Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Personalized picks at your fingertips

Get the mobile app on iOS and Android

Parents' Guide to

I Want You Back

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Break-up romcom is surprisingly sweet; language, drinking.

Movie R 2022 111 minutes
I Want You Back Movie: Poster

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Day and Slate shine in this charming romcom about two people who slowly fall for each other while sabotaging their exes' current relationships. There's a sweet and substantive undertone to screenwriters Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger's story, even if it's about a deceitful scheme to break up two couples. Slate and Day aren't just talented comic actors, they also have the emotional range to show how someone who's been recently dumped feels lost, confused, and depressed. There's an authenticity to the comedy beyond the surface element of how both main characters Instagram-stalk and find their exes. Director Jason Orley explores the many issues that come with dating in your 30s and the way that complacency and the fear of starting over can cause people to stay in incompatible relationships.

Peter isn't a traditionally "hot and handsome" catch like personal trainer Noah; he's a generous-hearted man who's good with kids, works with the elderly, and convinces a friend not to drunk-dial her ex-boyfriend. (Emma describes him as a slow burn that grows on you, and it's obvious from their first meeting that they'll end up together.) And Emma is vibrant, sexy, and funny, if a bit slow to launch out of her 20s. Their character development is downright moving, especially as they truly examine how the past relationships they're desperate to get back might not have been the right ones after all. Romcoms are easy to dismiss as formulaic and predictable, but I Want You Back is neither. Even though audiences may know the end game, the story is deeper and sweeter than is typical for the genre, without devolving into cheesy or sentimental. And that final scene? It's simply perfect.

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate