Modern Love is a romantic-comedy anthology based on The New York Times weekly column of the same name. It premiered on October 18, 2019, on Amazon Prime. A second season has been announced.

I never read the Modern Love column, though I have listened to the podcast of the same name where celebrities read past essays. So, I had an idea of what the show would look like. When I started the show I was simply looking for a short, but sweet show I binged in a couple of hours. Nothing complicated about it, just a sweet show and Modern Love was exactly what I was looking for. Modern Love is essentially a romantic-comedy movie, but in 8 parts each with different characters, actors, and storylines. Oh, and it’s only 20-35 an episode. A pretty sweet deal in my opinion.

Modern Love is an uncomplicated sappy show, I mean this in the nicest way possible. Sometimes you don’t want to watch big hitter types of show like Mindhunter for example. Sometimes you want something more on the simple side that you can use as a palate cleanser before starting something else. That in no way means that Modern Love isn’t good. I actually think it’s one of the better anthology show I have seen in a while. And of course, with the given snappiness of a romantic comedy, came the tears. Well at least from me anyway. I cried watching multiple episodes including…

Favorite Episode: Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am (1×03)

What a performance from Anne Hathaway. The best performance I have seen of her yet, which doesn’t say too much because I haven’t seen everything she’s been in including Lès Miserables, but that doesn’t take away she is phenomenal here. Quite frankly, her performance is one of the best I have seen all year and she was only in one episode (aside from a brief appearance in the finale) that’s how truly special her performance was. I highly recommend this episode even if you don’t plan on watching Modern Love yourself. It’s anthology, so you don’t need to watch any of the previous episodes and it’s only 20+ minutes. What do you have to lose? Nothing, so watch it for Anne’s performance alone. It’s wonderful.

Honorable Mentions:

When The Doorman is Your Main Man – (1×01)

When Cupid Is A Prying Journalist – (1×02)

At the Hospital, an Interlude of Clarity – (1×05)

Hers Was a World of One – (1×07)

Favorite Character: Joshua

This is kinda hard considering that this is anthology series we only get one episode with all these characters, but I really liked Dev Patel’s character Joshua in episode two. It also helps that I like Dev Patel and his performance was very charming in episode two and a brief appearance in episode eight.

Favorite Relationship: Maggie & Guzmin

Their platonic, almost father-daughter relationship was the first thing that made me really like the show as much as I do. It was genuinely sweet and heartwarming. Also, Cristin Milioti who plays Maggie is always so darn likable, it’s almost insane.

Do I Recommend It?

Yes, I do, but it really does come down to your preferences. If you aren’t a fan of romantic comedies, Modern Love won’t do anything to change your mind about them, even if some of the episodes are more geared towards finding yourself than an actual lover. But, if you are a fan of romantic comedies or you are interested in the show I do recommend. There are only 8 episodes clocking in between 20-30 minutes featuring some incredible actors including Tina Fey, Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel, Sofia Boutella, Cristin Milioti, Andrew Scott (hot priest, if you don’t understand that reference we can’t be friends…it’s Fleabag) and many more. It’s worth a shot.