Summary
While One Small Problem is predictable, it does have charm; the film is sold as a comedy, but in reality, it’s an innocent drama where the cast takes care of the dialogue with ease.
This review of the Netflix film One Small Problem contains no spoilers. The drama was released on the streaming service on March 19, 2021.
As a single father, Netflix’s One Small Problem hit home in the most realistic way possible. Dating in your 30s is already hard, combatting compatibilities and life objectives, to try and see if there’s a match. Its an age range that hits different in your early 20s; there’s this sense that no-one can be messing around. That’s my experience anyway, coupled with the problem of having to discuss that I’m a single father.
It’s not that I’m ashamed of my child, but in a fast-paced world of dating apps, having to have the same, lengthy conversation over and over again about how I came to be a father becomes painful. In the case of character Fidel (played by Alfonso Dosal), he finds himself in an awkward position where his romantic interest (Marina – played by Regina Blandón) reveals that she hates children before revealing he has children himself; a situation I’ve been in myself, making the next conversation painful.
Rather then Fidel coming clean, he and his daughter decide on a plan to not Marina away — they decide to act that his daughter Ari (played by Francesca Mercadante) is his sister.
While One Small Problem is predictable, it does have charm; the film is sold as a comedy, but in reality, it’s an innocent drama where the cast takes care of the dialogue with ease — there are not many funny moments, and the story is filled with realism. It’s not a romantic film where you have to suspend your disbelief — the Netflix film platforms the insecurities of a single father.
At 90 minutes, One Small Problem escalates the problem until the final act, and then it predictably tantalises the audience with a “will they/won’t they” scenario; it helps that Fidel and Marina are a convincing couple laced with chemistry to push the story forward. This is hardly the romantic film of the year, but it is a soft, simple drama about a man scared of pushing a potential romantic interest away.
