Why 'My Fault' Beats 'Through My Window: Across the Sea' as Both of Mary Sue Style?

Effectiveness of Narratives

Sequels usually run the risk of screwing up, but that does not make Through My Window 2 (2023) an excuse itself. We all know that movie series pay special attention to the extensibility of their stories, so in addition to constructing a wider perspective of the world, they usually end off with a cliffhanger or a situation that provides room for story development.

But these movies cannot sacrifice their structural integrity for the sake of extensibility. In other words, they should treat themselves as a complete work and tell a complete narrative. The resulting production should be one that is worth viewers spending double digits on its tickets and staying glued to their chairs to sit through the movie that lasts one to two hours. If the only aim is to rip the audience off, it will be extremely difficult for the subsequent sequels to match the fine quality of the first movie in the series.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) is one such unfortunate example. The whole film seems like a 140-minute introduction to Spider-Man, and hardly anyone feels satisfied after walking out of the movie theater. Fortunately, as opposed to Through My Window 2, its magnificent animated visuals greatly mask the flaws in its narrative.

Our most basic requirement of a commercial film is for it to be complete and exciting but Through My Window 2 is not even complete. The only key event we can probably recall from it is the death of Yoshi (Guillermo Lasheras), and he has been most of the audience's favorite character/the most well-liked character by majority of the audience! As for the story between Ares (Julio Peña) and Raquel (Clara Galle), we are still left in puzzlement, as misunderstandings just constantly arise between them and none of which have been resolved.

In terms of the structural integrity of a story, My Fault is evidently a notch above. Although the look in Rafaella's eyes at the end of the movie suggests that the relationship between Ares and Raquel will be strongly opposed by their parents in the sequel, until then, it will always be a story with the classic three-act structure of setup, confrontation, and resolution.

Power of The Main Leads

The theme of Through My Window 2 is long-distance relationship, which is actually a topic worthy of discussion when it comes to romantic relationships. It involves issues such as time difference, pace, temptation, loyalty, etc. But The film has obviously exploited the theme's appeal to create conflicts and tensions between the male and female protagonists without delving deeply into it.

Through some excellent examples, we can see the effective use of this theme. For instance, Going the Distance (2010) tells the love story between a woman (Drew Barrymore) who lives in San Francisco and a man (Justin Long) who works in New York. The two starts a long-distance relationship, full of ups and downs, with the help of various advanced Internet and communication tools.

Also, in order to cover up the lacking narrative of the main characters, Through My Window 2 adds several other side stories, but none of them works. For example, the appearance of Ares' childhood sweetheart, Vera, actually does not achieve the effect that it was supposed to have. Her character is so ordinary that she is completely reduced to a foil for Raquel, without posing any substantial threat to the relationship between Ares and Raquel.

Based on Robert McKee's story theory, the protagonist needs to encounter pressure that is commensurate with his own strength. Otherwise, his act of confronting will just be a fuss about nothing.

Another example of a branching storyline that has gone too far-fetched because of a lacklustre main plot is Yoshi's death—— it is too exaggerated and unnecessary!

My Fault's creation of tension is worth all teen romance films learning. What could be more exciting than falling in love with your stepbrother? This highly stressful ethical dilemma naturally provides the protagonists with a constant stream of pressure, and also allows the audience to immerse in the story more quickly.

Expansion of Genres

What is even more commendable is that My Fault incorporates elements of crime and action, built on the basis of its genre as teen movie, which undoubtedly adds more exciting highlights to the film. The setting of car racing scenes is one such example. Car racing is not only Nick's (Gabriel Guevara) hobby, but also an important driving force of his character arc.

Plus, there is a scene in the film where Nick and Noah (Nicole Wallace) discuss whether a particular racing technique is feasible. It turns out to be crucial in enabling them to team up and jointly defeat Noah's villainous father who wants to destroy her new life.

This kind of echo, or tricks, will give the audience a well-designed surprise. In the process of gradually (or instantaneously) lifting the suspense, the audience can also choose to proactively participate in the deciphering process. If they happen to be keen enough to get the answer before it is being revealed, they will experience a great sense of mental satisfaction. That is what we always say, a good movie should be neither too mind-boggling nor too foolish( but strike a fine balance in between). The tricks it employs should be appropriate, so that the audience can feel involved and accomplished.

Coincidentally, little narrative tricks are also used in Through My Window 2, but they serve as negative examples. For instance, at the beginning of the movie, Ares is asked in class by the teacher about the method of performing chest compressions. As he is distracted, he is unable to provide an answer, which echoes the scene at the end where he fails to save Yoshi. It is valid to single out this kind of echo, but it loses its purpose in such a slow-paced film where hardly any progress is made between the protagonists in most parts of the movie. As a result, when this echo appears, the audience is not surprised, and they even forget that there was a foreshadowing before that.

Overall, Through My Window 2 has not made any innovation. It positions itself as a simple erotic teen movie. Despite so, it was done sloppily and perfunctorily. It focuses more on the display of eroticism and ignores the other more important parts, making it more like advertisements for Airpods, iPhones, ice cream and Perrier.

Finally, it needs to be emphasized that film reviews are very subjective. If you happen to enjoy Through My Window 2 a lot, I'm sorry for being mean.