When you Google rom-coms on Netflix, you wouldn’t expect to find a movie like The Little Hours on the list. But there it was and here I am writing a review about it.

What really defines a rom-com? There was comedy. There was a bit of romance. In the general case of love in the end… I think that can be left up to the viewer’s interpretation. 

All in all, The Little Hours was an unexpected movie that I enjoyed, especially with how it started. And like I said, it was essentially free since it was on Netflix, so why not give it a try. 

The cast is a mammoth in this one with name after name appearing. The cutest pair of the bunch being Alison Brie and Dave Franco who are married in real life. Who wouldn’t like to make out with their husband or wife on set? No worries about accidentally pitching a tent there. No angry wife when you return from a sexy shoot day. But with all the names, a decent location, a general budget on staff and equipment, I’m not sure how the film made any money. I’ve searched hell and high water for an actual amount listed, but I haven’t found one anywhere. The closest reference being that they had a micro budget which could mean a wide range in the film industry. It’s easy to tell though that it wasn’t your grandmother’s coupon clipping budget. 

For all my aspiring filmmakers out there though, I think we can learn a lot from The Little Hours. Except for the crazy dialogue and lack of script - supposedly there was just an outline and the cast improvised the rest - the movie never felt low budget. I’ve already watched all the behind the scenes stuff that I can (there wasn’t a lot) to see how they did it. 

Let’s go back to the facts about the movie. 

For how short the film is, it took a long time to set up. It’s well over a third of the way in before we get to what I think is the point of the film. I don’t even know which moment was the inciting incident. Was it when the gardener quit? Was it when the nuns attacked the gardener? Was it when the lowly servant boy made love to his master’s wife? What was it????? With all that set up and explanation, was there a pay off? Was it worth the wait? It takes a solid twenty minutes before I would even say the film was funny.

Truth… I have no idea if it really worked. My mind was still asking a lot of questions while watching. Not all of those questions were answered. Not even the ones that the movie blatantly stated at the beginning. 

There was too much going on in the film to get a decent footing. You had the three nuns, the main guy, and the side story of the priest. Yet, if one part was left out, the essence of the film would have been missing. In the end, everything eventually comes together into a nice, heartfelt ending. 

And like so many before it, the ending saved the day. I still feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The Little Hours is one of those surprising movies that you don’t expect to find on Netflix. And I’m really glad that I stuck with it. Trust me, that was a hard task with the way that it started. I’m so picky about my humor and the movie was taking a hard turn in the wrong direction. At the last minute, it reeled back in and went in the way that I love - situational. 

I want to give this movie a warning though for all my younger readers. This movie most definitely is rated R. There is a lot of nudity and language. 

Happy Watching

Love Kait