DIRECTOR
Vanessa Caswill
Love at First Sight

STARS
Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Rudy Pankow, Zoey Kosovic, Lauren Graham, Bradley Whitford and Monika Myers

Is it a bad omen or simply unfortunate luck and terrible timing that Tyriq Withers, star of one of 2025s worst movies, Him, a year later features in one titled Reminders of Him!? 

The ‘him’ in this picture is Scotty (Rudy Pankow), who as the title strongly suggests, passed away under tragic circumstances a number of years ago. His girlfriend, Kenna (Maika Monroe) returns to Scotty’s hometown after serving a truncated prison sentence with a short but difficult to surmount to do list. After securing residence at Paradise Apartments, which as Kenna narrates to viewers is no paradise, action A is to get a job. A challenging gain to tick off the list with that very recent criminal record in tow. Though it won’t be as nearly difficult to achieve as action B; to reconnect with their young daughter, Diem (Zoey Kosovic), who lives with her grandparents (played by Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford) and has formed a protective fatherly figure in Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers).

The experience of viewing weepie romantic drama Reminders of Him is akin to eating a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, driving in the left lane or swimming in the slow lane. It is the epitome of safe and surprise-free cinema destined to perfectly satisfy its target demographic while everyone else tolerates and does their best to take it for what it is, which is acceptably mediocre movie making with the propensity to bring the cheese and reduce to tears in equal measure.

Just as Kenna commences her journey with a to do list in hand, so to do the writers of this film, one of which is Colleen Hoover, the author of the book this film is based upon. In addition to the above, their list includes but is not limited to:

Ensure every plot development is and remains entirely foreseeable throughout
Routinely depict core and obvious themes
Work with the director to cement genre cliches along every step of the way
Provide target audience complete closure by the end

They certainly are working with their right director in mind, Vanessa Caswill, who last directed Netflix romantic weepie, Love at First Sight, given the mutual agreement there ostensibly is in the casting and filmmaking departments. This includes but is not limited to:

Keep the tone and presentation of the movie gentle. No rough around the edges stuff.
Make sure every strand is lean and squeaky clean
Push play on injecting formulaic music score at all the right times
Cast attractive leads into key roles

A couple more less glowing things to say before I move to and end on some of the more positive aspects of Reminders of Him, for it is not my intention to appear merely critical of this acceptably mediocre movie, as earlier stated.

It is hardly a spoiler to say there is a romance development in this story, especially throughout its second half. It can be seen coming from as far as space! Well, in my humble opinion, Reminders of Him would have been much better off without it. Greater emphasis would then have been devoted to what Kenna’s ultimate goal is, which is also the film’s most profound quality, earning it respect for its focus and restraint. My other less glowing comment centres on its lead actors. Maika Monroe is fine and manages to carry the film, but for me is not an actress like so many others I have truly embraced or formed a stronger affinity for, thus limiting my investment in her character. Tyriq Withers fares better here than in Him, given Reminders of Him also fares (much) better than Him, but is yet to exhibit that he possesses the charm, range and quality in acting needed to match his outstanding physical appearance.

To the more complimentary now. The storytelling might be at its best during the opening act but those ticked-off items on the aforementioned to do lists do mean Reminders of Him is consistent in everything it does. Its level, though never much higher than ordinary, also rarely ever dips. The film’s best asset, in fact, is the casting and performance of the scene-stealing Monika Myers in her debut feature, playing an acquaintance of Kenna’s who also resides at Paradise Apartments that I reckon knows what’s best for her. 

Reminders of Him is showing in cinemas across Australia from March 12th, 2026.

Moviedoc thanks Universal Pictures for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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