Beloved Enemy: A Romance That Forgets There's A War On

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for 1930s dramas that prioritize mood over historical logic, sure. You’ll probably like this if you enjoy stiff-collared longing and people staring out of windows in the rain. If you’re looking for something that actually understands the complexities of 1921 Ireland, you’ll probably hate it. It’s a movie that uses a revolution as a backdrop, kind of like how The City of Stars uses a city just to show off a sunset.

Brian Aherne and Merle Oberon are undeniably beautiful people. They stand in doorways and look tortured quite well. But there’s this weird distance between them that I couldn't quite shake. It’s like they’re acting in two different movies that just happened to occupy the same frame.

The plot moves at a speed that feels almost accidental. One minute we are dealing with high-stakes political intrigue, and the next, we’re in a ballroom. It’s jarring. It’s disorienting, actually. At one point, David Niven shows up, and for a few minutes, the whole thing feels like it might actually catch a pulse. Then he wanders off again, and we’re back to the heavy sighs and the orchestral swells.

The dialogue is thick. It’s meant to sound poetic, I think. Instead, it sounds like people reading speeches they memorized ten minutes before the cameras rolled. There’s a specific scene in a garden that lasts for an eternity. The lighting is lovely, sure, but the characters just stand there saying things that no human being has ever said to another human being.

I found myself staring at the background extras more than the leads. There’s a guy in the third row of one of the pub scenes who looks like he’s bored out of his mind. I get it, man. I really do. It’s a long movie when you realize the script isn't going to surprise you.

Is it a bad movie? Not exactly. It’s just very… polite. It wants to be a tragedy of epic proportions, but it’s too scared to get its hands dirty. It reminds me a bit of the pacing issues in Jennie Gerhardt, where the emotion is signaled so loudly you don’t actually have to feel it yourself. The movie tells you it’s heartbreaking, but it doesn't give you a reason to actually break.

I kept waiting for someone to drop the act. Just once. Just one scene where someone screams or trips or says something stupid. But no. Everyone is perfectly coiffed, even when they’re hiding from the authorities. The hair is immaculate. The revolution is apparently very tidy.

Maybe I’m just being grumpy. Or maybe the movie is just a bit too shiny for its own good. It’s fine for a rainy Sunday, I suppose, if you just want something to look at while you fold laundry. 🧺