Enemies With Benefits

starring: AMALEA JOY SANCHEZ & NICOLAS GARABEDIAN

Matchmaker Emma is tasked with finding CEO Chase the perfect match. When she is let down by own of her picks, Emma puts on a blonde wig and British accent, pretends to be Veda - and that is who Chase decides he will marry...

REVIEW

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This a great little rom com on Sereal+

Amalea Joy Sanchez gets to have so much fun as matchmaker Emma, who ends up pretending to be English candidate Veda complete with blonde wig, accent and interpretive dance. She is brilliant and so much fun to watch

And we have an excellent meet cute here... as Emma graffitis the car of the wrong Harrington. That slow lowering of the car window and glower from Nick Garabedian is perfection.

And it is a really good enemies to lovers as there is no love lost at the beginning and a good amount of bickering. And excellent comedy value once Emma rates Chase at a lowly 27.

Plus we have chemistry when needed as Chase becomes determined to win Emma over and Nick Garabedian turns on the charm.

It is such a good central pairing.

Also very grateful to John Henry Richardson for once again acting as matchmaker in Vertland. He must be responsible for the most vert weddings with all his endeavours to get grandsons to find love.

Also want to spare a thought for Jennifer trying hard to run a sensible business, excellent thinking on the feet several times, perhaps need to improve your hiring standards Rebecca Tarabocchia.

The one thing that let this down for me was that the villains weren't that well written. I wish they had been given a bit more back story, or we had leant into the comedy more. Truly iconic villains would have made this 5 stars, and it is very close.

It's lots of fun and if you are not already a Nick Garabedian fan you will be by the end of this.

💖 Top swoonworthy moment:

If you like a glower you need to watch this. Nobody does a better glower than Nick Garabedian. From the moment Emma scribbles on his car, to when he switches on the charm to improve his ‘score’ - we have lots of chemistry. The relationship between the two is really well done, and I appreciated the Princess Diaries foot pop at the end.

🦹🏼‍♂️ Top villain award:

The other Harringtons stomp around, and my main quibble with this is I wish these characters had been better developed and given a bit more background. So I will give it to Susan for that cake smear, and not learning when to let it go at the end, prompting an excellent “Shut Up Susan” from Chase.

😂 Comedy gold:

Bravo Amalea for the best cockney accent since Dick Van Dyke

Emma’s ‘modern dance’ 🤣🤣🤣

Poor William (Shane Dorriz) embarrassed in the car at the making out

Again Emma delivering this line with a straight face “don’t chase me Chase”

🎺 Unsung hero:

Jennifer (partly because of the name 😉) but also because she is desperately trying to run a business here despite the messes created by Emma and Susan. And I love Rebecca Tarabocchia.

Also whoever did the graffiti on the car - excellent job and very artistic!

✍🏼 DETAILS

Director Paige Compton | 2025

Available on Sereal+ App