Liz Declan is a senior editor for ScreenRant, primarily covering movies. She is a huge fan of Star Wars, the MCU and Supernatural. In addition to writing, Liz loves attending and covering conventions and interviewing actors. Find her on TikTok and Instagram @va.va.vera
Log in to your ScreenRant account
What do you get when you mix Italian vineyards, a Disney princess and a The Bridgerton Chronicles Duke? A tale a little too “old as time”, with just enough charm so that we can’t help but forgive it. Live Action The Little Mermaid actress Halle Bailey and The Bridgerton Chronicles season 1 star Regé-Jean Page meet in You, me and Tuscanya sort of enemies versus lovers, sort of love triangle romantic comedy set in a beautiful Tuscan setting.
When American floater and house-sitter Anna (Bailey) has an almost one-night stand with Italian real estate agent Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor), she decides it’s time to take the plunge and travel to Italy, where she crashes at Matteo’s empty villa. However, after being discovered by her mother, Anna has to think quickly and pretends to be Matteo’s fiancée. Trouble is, the family falls completely in love with her – including Matteo’s muscular and often sprinkler-soaked brother, Michael (Page).
You, me and Tuscany have one condition: suspend your disbelief and you will have fun
Perhaps the biggest surprise You, me and Tuscany that’s how little the trailer has left to reveal. In it, Anna’s best friend Claire (Aziza Scott) asks Anna directly: “You pretended to be the white Italian man’s fiancée, but ended up having feelings for the black Italian cousin brother?“It ends up being essentially the entire plot, with no other significant surprises, until the very end.
If You, me and Tuscany has one real sin, however, and that is that it doesn’t seem to know which demographic to target. The film, rated PG-13, uses its only permitted F-bomb early on, and while that doesn’t automatically skew the film toward older teens and up, the phallic cucumber jokes — and just about everything else that comes out of Francesca’s (Stella Pecollo) mouth — certainly do.
Still, much of the tone isn’t really suitable for teens and older adults. The film asks a lot of its audience in terms of suspended disbelief, and while it sometimes handles its cheesiest moments by making fun of itself, there are times where cringe-worthy lines are delivered with absolute sincerity. Particularly early, in fact, You, me and Tuscany seems destined to be another trope rom-com that fails to stand out.
What ultimately saves the film is undoubtedly its casting. Unsurprisingly, given their respective romantic backgrounds, Bailey and Page are everything audiences want in romantic comedy lead roles. Both are funny, charming and ridiculously stunning, something that You, me and Tuscany exploits at every possible opportunity (seriously, they are soaked from head to toe at several points in the film).
The relatively small supporting cast also has several unexpected strengths. Although she challenges the target demo somewhat, Pecollo’s Fracesca is the funniest character in the entire film, and her lines are often so unexpected and jarring that it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that she improvised most of them. If Pecollo hasn’t tried her hand at stand-up, this should be the very next step in her career.
Marco Calvani’s Lorenzo, a taxi driver who becomes Anna’s mentor of sorts, is yet another scene-stealer. Calvani has surprisingly few entries in his filmography, but he is one of the brightest spots in You, me and Tuscany. (Think Jared Leto in Gucci Houseif his accent was real and all his jokes were successful.)
Capturing an Italian nonna’s unique brand of tough love is no easy task either, but Stefania Casini’s Nonna Alessia is just about perfect. Stoic and scrutinizing for most of the film, she breaks her silence near the very end of the film. You, me and Tuscany and confirms that she is in fact one of the best characters in the entire story.
However, not every character was presented as a compelling story arc. In fact, unlike the more common problem of films treating their women as plot devices rather than fully formed characters, Matteo has very little screen time and even less personality. His role mainly focuses on his status as the odd man out in his family and the problems he creates for Michael and Anna’s much better romance.
A few unsatisfying character choices aside, however, You, me and Tuscany delivers the light-hearted fun and beautiful scenery it promises.
Although he is charming at first and is essentially the driving force behind Anna’s story, when he eventually returns to Italy and reconnects with his family, he becomes a bit of a whiny, self-centered jerk. In the end, it’s not really resolved. He throws his car keys at Anna at a crucial moment, which wins him a few points, but then his story ends in a frankly confusing way that is perhaps the only narrative disappointment in the entire film.
Scott’s Claire was also positioned as a major character in much of the publicity for You, me and Tuscanywhich made it a little disappointing that after the first 20 minutes or so, she was practically absent. She continues to exchange texts and voicemails with Anna, but their time together on screen is very limited. It was a shame, not only because the two had great chemistry, but also because Claire is the only other black woman Anna really interacts with, and seeing their friendship on screen was meaningful.
A few unsatisfying character choices aside, however, You, me and Tuscany delivers the light-hearted fun and beautiful scenery it promises. Is it realistic that an American woman with a fairly good command of Italian could travel to Italy, become a squatter, and end up with a gorgeous new boyfriend and a loving family to boot? No, but the public hardly goes romantic comedies in search of realism. Instead, they are treated to an Italian fairy tale, peppered with sincerely funny moments, a brilliant cast and several unexpected surprises. The Bridgerton Chronicles/ References to Shonda Rhimes which reflect the playful nature of the film and its desire to make fun of itself a little.
You, me and Tuscany releases widely in theaters on Friday, April 10.
- Release date
- April 10, 2026
- Runtime
- 104 minutes
- Director
- Kat Coiro
- Writers
- Ryan Engle, Kristin Engle
- Producers
- Johanna Byer, Will Packer
