The year 2024 seemingly has been the prime time of age gap romances with a little, yet important, tweak to its story. While it used to be the male character that was much older than the woman (Yes, Richard Gere, we’re looking at you), the roles have been reversed now, and older female characters are at the center of admiration. The newest addition to the round is the romance movie on Netflix, Lonely Planet, which was directed by Susannah Grant and released on October 11. Lonely Planet is pretty much as random as its name. Despite its well-known actors, the release of the Netflix romantic movie felt as though it came out of nowhere, and the storyline feels, well, lonely and lost. Just like their main characters.

Katherine Loewe is a successful novelist, but when she is struck by writer’s block and hit with divorce, she visits a retreat in Morrocco to finish her novel. Owen joins his girlfriend, who is a new bestselling author, at the same retreat, but the more she starts to blend in with the other authors, the less welcome and connected he feels. On a random night, Katherine and Owen bump into each other and, lo and behold, they connect through their shared struggle of feeling lost. It’s needless to say that Lonely Planet is marked with flaws, reaching from missing character development to annoying tropes.

Lonely Planet’s Lead Actors Ruined the Movie

Liam Hemsworth and Laura Dern were cast for the two lead roles in Lonely Planet. Mainly known for The Hunger Games and Big Little Lies, respectively, both Hemsworth and Dern are definitely no strangers in Hollywood and have respectable projects attached to their names. With such high-profile actors, the expectations were understandably high, but, unfortunately, they weren’t met.

Lonely Planet, on top of its incredibly confusing title, offers no heat or chemistry, whatsoever. In particular, the romantic scenes are painful to watch, as Dern struggles to authentically deliver intimacy and makes the entire situation feel forced. This age gap movie proves that Dern works for a specific character, who is usually a rather strict, snappy woman who doesn’t show many (positive) emotions. After seeing her stumble through the role of Katherine, it is safe to say that the stern characters work better for her. It’s a good thing that there will be a third season of Big Little Lies and Dern can reprise the role of Renata Klein.

Furthermore, in 2025, The Witcher fans will get to see Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia in Season 4 of the hit series, which will hopefully allow the actor to show a wider range of his skills. As for Lonely Planet, Dern and Hemsworth simply don’t work well together, as neither seem to be able to convey the sparks when it comes to intimacy. Ultimately, Katherine and Owen or Dern and Hemsworth barely scratch the surface of a romance.

Lonely Planet Is Filled with Tropes

Before heading into the mess that is the tropes in the movie, there is one aspect of the age gap story that Lonely Planet almost did well. Apart from Katherine calling Owen a kid one time, the movie barely brought up the fact that the two main characters have a significant age difference, refraining from turning their relationship into something problematic. It’s quite refreshing, since there are movies with creepy age gaps, and the difference is made quite obvious.

In general, however, the characters in Lonely Planet are tragically shallow, and, other than their jobs, there is not much that is revealed about them. At the end of the movie, there is just as much information about the two main characters as there was at the beginning of the movie, which takes away from the excitement and suspense. If anything, Lonely Planet is a monotonous stroll along boring roads filled with same-looking houses. Tropes incoming, because, basically, all that is to know is that a good-looking, young guy randomly meets an older, almost boring woman with writer’s block. Sounds familiar? Yes, Lonely Planet shares a lot of similarities with the age gap movie A Family Affair. Both try hard to deliver a romance with an age difference but forget that there needs to be a plot to go with it.

Owen, of course, is this handsome guy who supports his girlfriend, but, oh well, maybe traveling and reading simply isn’t his thing. Then he lays eyes on this laid-back, older writer, who is witty and just gets him. She makes him feel like himself, although they literally just met 10 minutes ago. Owen, out of nowhere, wants to call it quits with his girlfriend, but since he is the good guy in the story, of course, she suddenly cheats on him and he finds out. It’s his way out. Shocker.

The drama goes on when Katherine’s bag with her writing work of two years gets stolen and, yes, you have guessed it, the professional, bestselling author never, not once, backed up her work. So, Dern gives probably one of her worst acting performances and breaks out in a hysterical, whiny cry, breaking everything off with Owen, aka her distraction. Both are hurt. He leaves. Months later, they randomly bump into each other at a bar, after she realizes that she should never have let him go. Everything, really everything, about Lonely Planet‘s storyline is just one big trope.

Upcoming Age Gap Romance Will Hopefully Do Better

Age-gap romance movies have always caused some sort of debate, centering on the question of how realistic and natural the depiction of the love story is. The Idea of You starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine caused quite an uproar since the main message it involuntarily conveyed was all about questionable parenting instead of a wholesome, loving relationship between two people. Even A Family Affair starring Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron basically told a story about a mother ignoring her daughter’s issues and going behind her back instead of highlighting the natural development of a romantic relationship between an older woman and a younger man.

Even though the end of the year is rapidly approaching, the end of age gap movies in 2024 is nowhere in sight. On December 25, a new movie that tackles the topic of a steamy romance between two people with a significant age difference will be released. The A24 age-gap erotic thrillerBabygirl, again, stars no other than age-gap movie pro Nicole Kidman. While Kidman has already acted in a similar relationship constellation in A Family Affair, Babygirl will be on a whole new, certainly more scandalous, level. Kidman steps into the role of a powerful CEO who puts herself at risk of losing her job as well as her family, when she starts a steamy affair with an intern in his 20s. The intimate relationship is set to throw them into chaos, as they try to navigate their job, life, and families all at once.

It remains to be seen how Babygirl will tackle the age gap topic and to which extent the movie will explore the struggles that come with it. However, considering that The Idea of You, A Family Affair, and the newest addition, Lonely Planet, are filled with unbearable tropes and little to no chemistry, this new upcoming movie will hopefully bring a refreshing approach to the topic. Lonely Planet is available to stream on Netflix.