Call Me Your Boy

starring: CHENA VERONY & NATE W SMITH

Heartbroken and humiliated, Victoria drowns her pain in a bar one night - only to be rescued from harassment by Ian Anderson, a rebellious 20-year-old rising underground rock star with piercing eyes and an untamed edge.

REVIEW

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is where I worry about my attention span and what verts have done to me - because this is clearly a beautiful, gentle love story - but I found my attention wandered.

I've been trying to work out and I think it is because it fell between 2 tones - if you are focusing on the connection between Victoria and Ian I wanted to get to know them more, I don't know anything beyond that she is a doctor and Ian has the singer secret heir thing going on. More conversation and moments developing the characters beyond smooching

Or if you are putting drama in with Ronan, dial that up and have more peril pulling them apart - that's when this caught my attention more, when Ian is trying to save Victoria, because then we saw emotion

I think @natewsmith_ and @chena_verony have tricky roles - they do the tentative romance beautifully, but there isn't much substance to their characters for them to dig into

In fact Ian is almost annoying at one point with his confidence, I think the character needed to be written with either more vulnerability or dial up the golden retriever energy

Basically these are 2 ridiculously attractive people and it all felt almost a bit too perfect and I am aware as I type this that I am being a bit unfair. I just think you have 2 super actors here, who if the characters had been developed a bit more would have been able to shine even brighter

There are some lovely bits - the song is beautiful and I really hope / think that is Nate singing. That works so well

And as I said @jeffviolette is such a pro, one of the best at playing this character. Would have loved to see him get into it a bit more with Ian, feel like Ronan is brushed aside too easily

Did have a brief moment where I thought Beverly Crusher had turned up in a vertical but it was @aviswrentmore - and there was an interesting dynamic with the mum wanting the best for her daughter in a misguided way which could have been explored more

It's sweet and I think a lot of people will love it, just didn't quite gel for me. And that may be because my brain is a bit conditioned by verts and I need more drama to keep me hooked. Which tbh is a bit of a worry.

💖 Top swoonworthy moment:

Never has there been so much kissing in a vert. I suspect I will be in a minority of one but I got bored of it and sped up those bits. I’m there for the emotional connection first, and it took a long time to come, but we finally got there when Ian is desperately breaking down the door to rescue Victoria, and then the big gesture.

🦹🏼‍♂️ Top villain award:

Ronan - this is going to sound weird, but it is like a comfort blanket seeing Jeff Violette turn up, be the jerk of an ex, try and kill or kidnap someone and then get his comeuppance. All is well in the world.

😂 Comedy gold:

THE ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER

If you have watched a lot of verts you know this is the hospital everyone goes to - and now we know who works there, Victoria! No wonder she is never home, vertland dramas keep her very busy.

🎺 Unsung hero:

Ronan / Jeff Violette’s face - which takes 3 punches to the nose from Ian - really think Ronan should have been allowed to land one punch back at the very least.

✍🏼 DETAILS

Director: Thomas Pallier | 2026

Available on Dramawave