‘How To Deal With a Heartbreak’ Netflix Movie Review - Joanna Lombardi’s Film is Enjoyable

As someone who constantly opens Twitter (X) in another tab while writing reviews, I smiled during that scene in Joanna Lombardi's How to Deal with a Heartbreak where María Fé (Gisela Ponce de León) goes through Instagram posts instead of writing her book. The movie is like a rebuttal to that Jim Carrey GIF where the actor energetically types on a keyboard without pausing. How to Deal with a Heartbreak shows that writing requires discipline, and words do not just smoothly flow like a river from the writer's mind. When María is asked to write something about pain within ten minutes during a creative writing class, she strikes her palms and opens her diary, but before she can put down a single word on the paper, the teacher says, "Time is up." So much time is spent preparing oneself to write that the actual writing does not always happen. Sometimes, you merely type two lines, look at the clock, and realize almost two hours have passed in the blink of an eye.

This is why writers fantasize about those writing montages where a book gets completed within seconds. It also looks cool and exciting. But when you watch someone write something in real life, the process doesn't appear so attractive. And since the writing montages can only occur in fiction, María puts her second novel in the backseat and focuses on creating reels. Her mother, Elena (Norma Martínez), is not quite happy with María's new interest. She wants her to write again. But María remarks that writers do not receive free boxes. Fair enough, although she forgets to add that writers also get underpaid. But in the world of How to Deal with a Heartbreak, a writer doesn't need to worry about payment. He/she just needs to find inspiration.

You can search for that inspiration in the aforementioned creative writing class, where the teacher, Maribel (Grapa Paola), somehow finds the opportunity to talk about her sponsorship deal (use the code "cybermaribel," and you will get a 20% discount on her book). It's in this class where María meets Joaquin (Rodrigo Raffetto), who understands her The Princess Diaries references. When he texts her that he's waiting for his Hogwarts letter, I whispered, "Same pinch." The movie gave me so much to admire that I don't have many complaints about it. Look closely, and you will find amusements in minor details, like in that scene where Carolina (Jely Reátegui), one of María's friends, copies Luca's (Jason Day) gestures at a club (she greets a girl in the same way as him). I thought something would occur between these two, but the movie doesn't go there.

Two moments, though competently executed, stick out like a sore thumb. One of them carries the news regarding someone's death, while the other has a woman looking endearingly at the crowd assembled for her. How to Deal with a Heartbreak is so light on its feet that these "heavy" bits feel jarring. For emotions, look at the scene where a mother and her daughter talk about a prehistoric computer and go through old cassettes. It's moving and understated. When María delivers a eulogy, she states how the deceased man was bad at handling sad situations. Maybe this is why the movie gives us that crying lady as a comic relief during the funeral. It, too, doesn't like to be mushy.

How to Deal with a Heartbreak is one of those films where every actor fits in their parts perfectly. Every line they speak feels right. Gisela Ponce de León conveys every beat with precision and moves effortlessly from one mood to another. She is the beating heart of this film. How to Deal with a Heartbreak is a sequel to the 2018 film How to Get Over a Breakup (the original title is Soltera Codiciada). I got this information after watching this second movie. This means I saw Soltera Codiciada 2 without having any knowledge of Soltera Codiciada. Did it have any negative effect on my viewing experience? No. It's not every day you come across a sequel that works well, even if you have not done your homework.

Final Score- [7.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times