Anna (Halle Bailey) is a professional housesitter who is comfortable living in other people’s luxury homes while they are away on vacation. But she used to dream of more: a trip to Italy to inspire her future restaurant. When she meets a charming Italian man, Matteo (Lorenzo Calvani), in the hotel bar, it seems like fate. So why not take the trip to the sun-drenched vineyards of Tuscany and stay in his house? What could possibly go wrong? The place is empty after all. What follows is a series of hijinks as Anna journeys through Tuscany, navigating food, family, and a fake fiancé. But is the adventurous premise and promise of wacky laughs enough to merit a theatrical release? In 2026, romcoms are relegated largely to streaming. You, Me, & Tuscany seeks to answer those questions one well-worn trope at a time.
Once in Tuscany, Anna poses as Matteo’s fiancée; his estranged family sees her as a savior, the one who has restored their relationship with the prodigal son. More importantly, she meets Matteo’s cousin and adopted brother, Michael (Regé-Jean Page). Michael is a local winemaker, seeking the simple things in life and a future wife. What begins as a brief annoyance, Anna’s feelings turn to something deeper as she starts falling for Michael while living a lie with him and his family. Michael and Tuscany could offer her everything her life is missing, but only if she has the courage—and the honesty—to choose it.
The foundation of any good romcom is the chemistry of the leads. Page and Bailey play off each other effortlessly, bantering through sweet and slightly steamy scenarios. It’s the kind of rapport and connection that romcoms live and die on. Page, best known for his success in Bridgerton, brings all his Duke-level charm to Tuscany, elevating an earnest character to leading man status. While Bailey is most known for her performance in 2023’s The Little Mermaid, it’s nothing mystical or Disney-esque that makes Bailey stand out as Anna. Instead, Bailey grounds the character in normalcy against an extraordinary backdrop. Bailey pairs well with Page, giving Anna a sweetness that endears the audience to her struggles and her culinary passions. Anna remembers every character’s name, even those we meet in passing. And Michael is dependable to every member of the family, especially in the wake of Matteo’s estrangement. These small details add characterization to otherwise stock leads and allow Page and Bailey to further shine as the romantic center of the story. It’s those details that make you root for them before the third-act conflict even hits.
Stock characters are not uncommon in the romcom genre. While the cab driver Lorenzo (Marco Calvani) and Anna’s best friend Claire (Aiza Scott) provide most of the laughs through their quirky, gossipy banter with Anna, the majority of the ensemble has a singular emotional journey. Many characters can be summarized simply by the jokes they tell or the energy they bring to a scene. Matteo’s father is stoic, his mother is joyous, his brother is social media-obsessed, and his sister is…let’s say, romantically enthusiastic. Like the food featured throughout the movie, Anna and Michael are the main course, surrounding them with less-defined characters is like adding salt: not sexy, but necessary. Yet surrounding them with too many one-note characters overpowers the film’s characterization, stealing from the performances of the two leads, just as too much salt can ruin the dish entirely.
One-note characters can be easier to overlook in some genres, especially in romantic comedies. But the abundance of exposition is difficult to overlook, especially when it extends beyond the opening fifteen to twenty minutes. It often feels like the film is re-explaining itself in case the audience is getting on their phones. Romcoms have to trust the audience; they are here for romance, not for constant recaps. Characters often remind Anna that she is pretending to have a fiancé, that she is falling for Michael, or that her mother has passed away. Some of this exposition is forgivable; she’s meeting a village of new people. But repeatedly telling Anna what she already knows gets monotonous and quickly wears thin.
Despite its flaws, You, Me, & Tuscany has some high highs. The theatrical release is noteworthy, especially as Netflix and Hallmark, for better or worse, have seemingly cornered the romcom market. Since Crazy Rich Asians, the only marketed romcoms to make a theatrical run worthy of the pop culture zeitgeist seem to be Eternity and Anyone But You. Eternity had the backing of A24 and cinephiles alike. Yet, Anyone But You and You, Me, & Tuscany share some DNA. Both films hark back to the romcoms of the late 90s and early Y2K. It’s charming leads thrown into a high-concept premise; the exact kind where you already know the ending, but you happily take the journey anyway, and that’s part of the appeal. Even Tuscany is an unofficial character in the film, just as Australia is in Anyone But You, or New York is in countless romcoms from When Harry Met Sally to the satire They Came Together. For all its exposition overload and abundance of Hallmarkian characters, You, Me, & Tuscany could signal a return to romcoms on the big screen.
Only the box office will truly tell if You, Me, & Tuscany can make good on the promises of a romcom renaissance. It has all the right ingredients: two leads with easy recognition, a cozy setting with a touch of adventure, and the budget to pull it off on a scale most romcoms in 2026 cannot touch. However, You, Me, & Tuscany is for a very specific audience, and it knows exactly who they are. For those yearning for a hybrid of 2000s romcom influence with a sprinkle of Letters to Juliet and a dash of Bridgerton-style and Bailey’s star power, then You, Me, & Tuscany checks all those boxes and more. Yet within the classic romcoms, it falls short, breaking up sincerity with abrupt laughs and so much exposition that it dilutes the dialogue. Seeing Halle Bailey in a big-screen romcom is a delight, hopefully making her the romcom equivalent of a scream queen, a “Swoon Queen” if you will. Regé-Jean Page is back as a leading heartthrob and proves just as compelling as ever. But despite Bailey and Page’s fresh takes on love in Italy, You, Me, & Tuscany is still slightly undercooked.
