TIFF 2025: Charlie Harper Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

In the large pool of romance films, at the very least, Charlie Harper manages to be unconventional. Rather than being a straight-forward film about its two leads meeting, falling in love, having a fallout but later reconciling, it focuses more about characters reflecting on the love they had. Instead of being about two characters falling in love, it sees them realize that they are not in love anymore. Charlie Harper is told in a non-linear fashion, jumping around timelines in order to showcase the changing aspects of the relationship between Charlie (Robinson), a man who works at a shirt printing shop, and Harper (Jones), an aspiring chef. Having met originally in high school, the pair reconnect some time later and form a relationship, later moving to New Orleans so Harper can pursue a career. Now while the film may be cute, it never fully transcends its genre, and fails to pulls audience further into the characters or their romance.

To its credit, the film features an intriguing premise, highlighting how a couple is clearly not suited for one another, how they used to love each other, but are no longer in love with each other. However, its execution leaves a little to be desired. Though Jones and Robinson have excellent chemistry, one can’t help but wish that their characters and their relationship had been afforded more depth. Above all else, the film could not quite shake off the feeling of something missing. The lack of character depth would serve as a major detriment in connecting with them or their relationship on an deeper emotional level. For example, who are these characters beyond their relationship? Out of the two main characters, Charlie is worse off than Harper as his issues with addiction are merely touched on. In the end, the shallow portrayal of Charlie and Harper certainly did not do the film any favours.

Meanwhile, another major issue with the film proved to be its non-linear narrative. Though this creative choice can occasionally work in a film’s favour to contrast different time periods, its use here makes the story feel all over the place at times, hurting its overall momentum and throwing audiences for a loop. In this case, it would likely have been more effective to just chronicle Charlie and Harper’s relationship from start to finish, in a more linear fashion, avoiding any possible disconnects between the film and audiences. If Charlie Harper has anything going for it, its third act is arguably its strongest. Portraying the titular relationship at its most toxic and volatile, contrast with the relationship at its infancy, makes for a compelling tale about healing one’s self and growing as a person outside of relationships. However, it is just a shame that audiences have to sit through the film’s first two acts to get there.

Overall, though Charlie Harper is not a bad film, its non-linear narrative and weak characterization makes its characters difficult to root for, despite the simmering chemistry of leads Nick Robinson and Emilia Jones.

still courtesy of Row K Entertainment

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Jasmine Graham