‘You, Me & Tuscany’ Review: Postcard-Pretty Rom-com is all Cheese, Little Spark
This past Black History Month (aka February), I had an angry breakdown over the lack of theatrically-released Black-led movies. Yes, Black cinema should be distributed year-round, but the slim pickings from studio titles and most of our movies sent straight to streaming had me wanting to beat a Hollywood exec’s legs until they were spaghetti. Kat Coiro's You, Me & Tuscany marks the first Black-led studio romance to get a wide release since Stella Meghie’s The Photograph. It's frustrating that it took this long for us to get anything, even if that something is a mediocre, awkwardly produced film with a quasi-Dear Evan Hansen-like plot, offering charm in its appetizers rather than its main dishes.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Universal Pictures
MPA Rating: PG13 (for for some strong language, and sexual material.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 45 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: Will Packer Productions
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Kat Coiro
Screenwriter: Ryan Engle
Cast: Halle Bailey, Regé-Jean Page, Marco Calvani, Aziza Scott, Isabella Ferrari, Emanuele Pacca
U.S Release Date: April 10, 2026
Anna (Halle Bailey), an aspiring chef, is reeling from her mother's recent death, which derailed their plans to go to Italy together and led her to drop out of culinary school. After getting fired from a housesitting job for overstepping, she goes to her best friend Claire’s (Aziza Scott) job for advice. There, she meets Italian real estate agent Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), who encourages her to go to Italy.
The next day, she impulsively leaves for Italy, only to arrive during a summer festival with no vacancies. Channeling Goldilocks, she finds Matteo's empty villa and makes herself at home, even playing with his jewelry and trying on his grandmother's ring. But then his family arrives and mistakes her for his fiancée. Not wanting to cause trouble, Anna goes along with the lie. However, not everything is so "preggo" (great). As she becomes more integrated into the family, she learns about their complicated dynamics and grows infatuated with Michael (Regé-Jean Page), their adopted brother and vineyard owner.
You, Me & Tuscany is a postcard-perfect rom-com with Disney Channel instincts.
Caption: (from left) Leo (Luca Setaccioli), Francesca (Stella Pecollo), Roberto (Agazio Olanda), Enzo (Tommaso Cassissa), Bella (Beatrice Skyler Rigel), Roberto (Giacomo Giacopini) and Anna (Halle Bailey) in You, Me & Tuscany, directed by Kat Coiro. Photo Credit: Giulia Parmigiani/Universal Pictures
You, Me & Tuscany aims to be a throwback to old-school, traditionalist rom-coms. Despite breaking through to theaters at a much-needed time, its execution feels less like a cinematic film and more like a Disney Channel Original Movie, if one were made for a PG-13 audience. The film leans into clichéd sitcom gags, highlighting its destination location of story, and increasingly wacky shenanigans driven by Anna's lie, all amplified by John Debney's carnival-like score. Yet it's delivered with a harmless, sweet-natured, upbeat spirit and charm that sometimes won me over.
That charm comes largely from the supporting cast, which is the only reason the film avoids Hallmark or streaming comparisons (even though it's cobbled together like one). It may have Black leads, but it's the "spicy whites" who steal the show. Matteo's family is a delight, arriving like characters straight out of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding universe (Nia Vardalos even has a cameo), full of big personalities, quirks, and a loving nature that gives the film its spark.
Bailey shares better chemistry with everyone in the family unit – and with Giuseppe (Emanuele Pacca), a local gay driver she befriends – than she does with Page. On the story front, it's the family giving Anna the chance to live the life she dreams of, rather than the generic, charming son. I found myself enticed by Matteo and his estranged relationship with his family, all being taken in through Anna, and her becoming a surrogate daughter to them. For someone who once played Ariel in The Little Mermaid, this film could’ve prospered from a more Lilo & Stitch angle. The found family theme that develops between them as Matteo's fake wife is the warmest, most enjoyable aspect of Ryan Engle's undercooked screenplay.
Halle Bailey’s and Regé-Jean Page’s charm can’t cover a total lack of spark.
(from left) Michael (Regé-Jean Page) and Anna (Halle Bailey) in You, Me & Tuscany, directed by Kat Coiro. Photo Credit: Giulia Parmigiani/Universal Pictures
I kept telling a friend bits of the plot before writing this review, and each time they said, "Oh, that's fun." And it is. But Ryan Engle's first step into rom-com territory (after a career of blockbuster action junk with titles like Rampage and The Commuter) is devoid of romance itself, which severely limits Bailey and Page. Both actors are charming, but Engle proves he has no sauce in the romance department. He doubles down on tropes and generic, underwritten conversations, leaving the two hot performers awkwardly weaponizing their best attributes – Bailey's bubbliness and Page's suaveness – hoping the audience mistakes that for actual chemistry.
Given the film's light nature, those writing issues bog down Anna herself. The script tries to boost her likability despite her making messy, irrational decisions. Is this girl delusional or just stupid? She commits crimes obliviously, even when her stereotypically loud Black best friend Claire repeatedly spells out everything she's doing wrong, either to her face or through terribly ADR'd voicemails. The film doesn't trust itself or the audience enough to write a truly messy, flawed protagonist, making it hard to even like Anna during her manic moments.
Constant plot reminders and poor ADR work make You, Me & Tuscany feel like a streaming movie, despite its intention as a theatrical rom-com throwback. I don't remember 2000s movies being so kinetically held together by duct tape, with establishing shots and voiceover jokes every other scene, transitions everywhere, and conversations shot from a hundred awkward angles per minute, allowing Madame Web-level ADR to persist. It may be spiritually a Disney Channel Original Movie, but it screams Netflix by execution, which sucks to say because that's clearly not the film's intention.
You, Me & Tuscany should not carry the burden of Black film representation.
(from left) Michael (Regé-Jean Page), Anna (Halle Bailey) and Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor) in You, Me & Tuscany, directed by Kat Coiro.
Again, it's harmless, light, enjoyable, and warm. I shouldn't be this critical about something so airy. Yet, a theatrical original rom-com with such a fun concept should have better technical effort and direction, especially when the romance itself doesn't work. I was entertained, but audiences clamoring for theatrical light rom-coms deserve a better trip than a sauceless, chemistry-less production like this.
That said, I hope You, Me & Tuscany does well because the future of Black cinema – even though it’s a predominantly white production both on and behind the scenes – hinges on its success, which is fucked up. I'm pissed that Hollywood execs think we have to prove ourselves at the box office when there's sheer proof our stories make bank. 2025 alone gave us the original Black-led and Black-made One of Them Days, a commercial hit ($58M on a $14M budget), and Sinners being fucking Sinners.
This Hollywood infrastructure is still doing everything to prevent us from making more art, even as the demand grows more vocal and our asses remain in seats. Movies like You, Me & Tuscany, which I find blatantly mediocre, shouldn't be used as a scapegoat to confine future Black movies to a bracket or a box, limiting us from making more original work. White-made movies that are often far worse get off without even a slap on the wrist because that's the status quo. Fuck that hypocritical noise. I hope some reckoning happens so we can have more art aimed at the theatrical space, where Black people can enjoy art made for us and by us, and be part of a (still limited) wealth of Black cinema across all genres.
