I really, truly believed “The Other Zoey” was a Christmas movie when I began watching it. Every trailer, edit and clip showed them on a ski vacation in fuzzy sweaters–how could I not? 

Instead, “The Other Zoey” is a different holiday movie: Zoey is a Valentine’s Day scrooge who gets knocked off her feet (literally) by soccer player Zach MacLaren. Zoey and Zach are students at a fictional, caricatured college. Zoey’s a STEM major, which obviously makes her a cynic who believes love can be calculated for ideal compatibility. Zach’s major is probably irrelevant because I don’t think it was even mentioned (he’s a soccer star and that’s what’s important). 

While I may sound negative about the movie, I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s not in any way perfect but it doesn’t really have to be. Josephine Langford (Zoey) and Drew Starkey (Zach) broke away from the roles they’re most known for (Tessa from “After” and Rafe from “Outer Banks”) and portrayed a low-stakes couple that had undeniable chemistry. 

The plot follows a slightly similar storyline to the Sandra Bullock classic, “While You Were Sleeping.” Zoey and Zach barely know each other in passing, but when he gets hit by a car and has amnesia, he mistakes her for his real girlfriend, a very different girl also named “Zoey.” While this is going on, Zoey has developed feelings for Zach’s supersmart cousin who’s in town. Listening to her friend’s terrible advice and hoping not to make his amnesia worse, Zoey goes along with Zach’s assumption and gets to know his family, hence getting closer to his cousin. 

However, as she gets to know both of them more, she quickly realizes that just because they’re both smart, it doesn’t mean that she and Zach’s cousin are compatible, and just because Zach is a bit of a golden retriever airhead at times, that doesn’t have to to be a bad thing and it doesn’t make him stupid. 

Zoey then has to navigate the mess she made as best she can, a process fraught with second-hand embarrassment and stress for the viewer. 

The movie seems to be doing its best to emulate a classic rom-com, and the actors accomplish that. The production, marketing and even writing, however, leave something to be desired. I first learned about the movie from editors on social media and was disappointed that the fan-made work was leagues ahead of the actual marketing for the show. Even just the movie poster didn’t feel representative of the movie. The production also lacked consistency, I counted at least three separate fonts and styles for the big “Jam Fest” event posters; the website Zoey makes also looks outdated, unprofessional and unconvincing considering her amazing coding skills. The writing pace was rushed as it is in many ninety-minute movies.

At the end of the day, I don’t know if the full movie met my expectations, but Josephine Langford and Drew Starkey definitely did. The movie is a bit hard to access, you have to rent or buy it on Prime right now, but if you’re willing to shell out a few dollars for a fluffy movie where you can finally see the two actors in sweet, lovey-dovey roles, I would go for it.

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from MUSE.