Thoughts/comments while watching Netflix's 2026 Office Romance
Spoilers Ahead!
Thoughts/Comments While Watching Netflix's Office Romance (2026)
Spoilers Ahead!
Featuring @batboybisexualism
Mogg Free: The first familiar face we see (besides JLO and Brett "Bushy Brows" Goldstein) is character actor Will Sasso from MadTV fame (if you're a millennial like me).
Mogg Free: "This song will forever remind me of a dancing mouse singing to a slab of cheese." (talking about the intro soundtrack You Sexy Thing by hot chocolate)
batboybisexualism: "Oh damn, lol. What's that from?"
Mogg Free: Apparently, it's from a film student in the Philippines. (update it's actually from a digital school)
Mogg Free: Oh, so that's Will's role. I was guessing he'd be another employee at her company. I was completely wrong.
Mogg Free: Ah, a work dinner.
Mogg Free: This is like The Last Jedi—nothing is what it seems.
Mogg Free: Holy crap, maybe my prediction will come true.
Mogg Free: This is a crime movie now!
Mogg Free: Ooooh, someone's hiding something.
batboybisexualism: Lol, you called it!
Mogg Free: Foreshadowing.
batboybisexualism: Poor Will.
Mogg Free: In the 2000s, this would have been Tony Hale's role.
batboybisexualism: This song is a banger too.
batboybisexualism: I once had a guy pressure me into dancing with him like this in a restaurant. It was so embarrassing.
Mogg Free: So they both had bad experiences in the past. Okay.
Mogg Free: It suddenly became a therapy session.
batboybisexualism: Not "force" force. He just guilted me into it.
Mogg Free: "Hey, that's the same apartment Sam #2 took Annie to." (from another better Tony Hale movie called Happythankyoumoreplease)
batboybisexualism: Oof, yeah. That was depressing.
Mogg Free: "Mom, I'm home." Okay, lol.
batboybisexualism: Yeah, very similar area.
Mogg Free: It has the same jokes we've seen many times before.
batboybisexualism: Goodbye, Larry.
batboybisexualism: Aww, different elevators.
Mogg Free: The lighting in this movie is warmer than The Devil Wears Prada 2.
batboybisexualism: Foreshadowing the elevator hookup.
Mogg Free: Hey, Brian Gallivan!
Mogg Free: I've rewatched Sassy Gay Friend so many times because of this movie.
Mogg Free: Wait, I thought he was a new employee?
Mogg Free: Oh, he is relatively new—new enough that he hasn't met the boss yet.
batboybisexualism: Yeah, I guess he's new. I think he mentioned working there during his date scene.
Mogg Free: What The Devil Wears Prada is this???
batboybisexualism: Yeah, the workplace feels very similar.
batboybisexualism: I haven't seen The Devil Wears Prada 2 yet, though.
Mogg Free: Me? I'm not going to watch The Devil Wears Prada 2.
batboybisexualism: I'll watch it when it hits streaming, but I don't want to go to the theater. I still need to see I Love Boosters, though.
Mogg Free: I don't think a woman like her exists.
Mogg Free: We should always use our maternity leave
Mogg Free: I've actually heard of people doing that.
Mogg Free: Ooooh, is this...
Mogg Free: Why is this gross? (referring to Whitford's role choking on a burrito)
batboybisexualism: Rail behind you!
batboybisexualism: He could have performed the Heimlich maneuver on himself.
Mogg Free: Oh, so Brett's character is awful.
Mogg Free: That wasn't even funny.
Mogg Free: Oh, Bradley Whitford!
Mogg Free: Most people probably don't know that (referring to doing the self heimlich)
Mogg Free: Some of the actors in this movie weren't at the premiere red carpet event.
batboybisexualism: Damn, I guess it was a pretty small premiere.
Mogg Free: Why is everything so predictable?
batboybisexualism: Lol, help.
Mogg Free: I mean, yeah, it's a romantic comedy.
batboybisexualism: I'm worried he's hiding something bad.
Mogg Free: So she doesn't trust him?
Mogg Free: Did she try asking him? I wasn't paying attention.
"Hopefully They Reveal She Killed Someone."
The romance takes a back seat when the movie introduces a strange subplot involving Daniel's (Brett Goldstein) sister. Batboy and I become far more interested in trying to solve whatever crime she did to end up in US slammer.
By this point, I begun questioning both the plot and Brett Goldstein's acting.
Mogg Free: Mental recognizes mental.
Mogg Free: She killed someone.
batboybisexualism: She did try asking him, and he was weird about it.
Mogg Free: Hopefully they reveal at the end that she killed—or almost killed—someone.
batboybisexualism: That would be sexy, lol.
Mogg Free: Maybe it was self-defense?
Mogg Free: Oh, his sister is insane. He admitted it.
batboybisexualism: Crazy women, my beloveds.
batboybisexualism: Hell yeah, girl.
Mogg Free: Oh, okay. She sliced someone's head.
batboybisexualism: I hope we find out whyyyy.
Mogg Free: But the movie still hasn't explained why this is supposed to be so important.
batboybisexualism: I don't know. It shows that he's a good lawyer and a good brother.
Mogg Free: Brett doesn't have the face for acting. I'm sorry.
Mogg Free: I guess I'm at odds with the critics who gave him awards.
Mogg Free: Like... no emotion.
batboybisexualism: My mom loves him because of Ted Lasso.
"Where Is George?"
After some time has passed when we watched that only Tony Hale (George Dudek) scene in his office where the main characters separately and briefly talk to George about romances in the office.
George disappears from the movie, creating an unexpected secondary plotline inside our watch party. The movie introduces so far prison subplots, corporate politics, and emotional revelations, but George's absence becomes the real story of our watch party, I mean of course the reason why we watched this movie is because of Tony Hale.
I become increasingly convinced that Tony Hale was only hired for marketing purposes, while batboybisexualism desperately hopes George will return.
Mogg Free: And George has left the movie.
batboybisexualism: He's got to be coming back. HR could still be called in for this.
Mogg Free: See? They're just using Tony Hale's name to market this movie.
batboybisexualism: Lol, that's my hopeful theory.
batboybisexualism: I mean, they also have JLO and Brett. Those are pretty big names.
Mogg Free: I also think this role was just a favor for Brett.
Mogg Free: Brett said on a podcast years ago that he's a Tony Hale fan.
batboybisexualism: Smart man.
Mogg Free: True, but why did they have Tony Hale with them during that Kelly Clarkson interview?
batboybisexualism: Yeah, I don't know. Weird.
batboybisexualism: He could still come back. (Delusional mode.)
George, Are You Seeing This?
Summary:
The film descends fully into rom-com chaos. Characters make questionable decisions, emotional revelations pile up, and the central romance reaches its conclusion. I repeatedly attempts "to summon" George back into the narrative as an HR witness to what is unfolding. Batboybisexualism embraces the absurdity while I become increasingly horrified by the movie's logic.
Mogg Free: Finally, something that makes sense.
Mogg Free: Now don't make this sad.
Mogg Free: Stop with the sad music.
Mogg Free: Why did they write the sister into prison? For what?
batboybisexualism: It's the sad part of the movie before the happy ending.
batboybisexualism: I mean... why not?
Mogg Free: But they finally did something right, though?
batboybisexualism: Ohhhh, shit!
Mogg Free: No. What I learned in scriptwriting is that everything should make sense.
Mogg Free: Everything should be connected.
Mogg Free: If it's not important, remove it.
batboybisexualism: I mean, it adds intrigue, shows he's a good brother, and gets a few laughs.
batboybisexualism: It's not an amazing plot point, but sometimes people are just in prison.
Sydney and Corporate Drama
Mogg Free: Crap. This Sydney character is just a bad stereotype.
batboybisexualism: Yeah, they took her character way too far.
Mogg Free: Why are they fighting?
Mogg Free: The dad didn't fight for her.
Mogg Free: She got replaced?
Mogg Free: Wow, nobody cares.
Mogg Free: I think normal people don't care about rich corporations.
Mogg Free: Only business people read that news site.
Mogg Free: This is a farce.
Mogg Free: Yeah, you still have to process your resignation paperwork, bro.
batboybisexualism: Lolllll.
Mogg Free: You still have to go back to that office.
Mogg Free: He forgot his phone.
batboybisexualism: What a jerk.
Mogg Free: Yikes. This movie is ridiculous.
Mogg Free: By the way, Tony Hale left this movie years ago.
Increasing Levels of Chaos
batboybisexualism: Graduate moment.
Mogg Free: Wait, is that a reference to The Graduate?
Mogg Free: This movie is bonkers.
Mogg Free: This woman is...
batboybisexualism: What the hell?!
Mogg Free: So she's getting fired.
batboybisexualism: Amy! LMAO.
Mogg Free: Oh, blackmail. Okay.
Mogg Free: You heard that, George?
batboybisexualism: Tonyyyyyyyyyyy!
Mogg Free: Still just a cameo, though.
batboybisexualism: Brooooooooo!
Mogg Free: No, don't have sex.
Mogg Free: Oh my God, this is the ending of Perfume.
Mogg Free: Everyone, take off your clothes!
batboybisexualism: Awww. Dad is proud.
Mogg Free: Dad is proud that she slept with an employee.
Mogg Free: Hell yeah, feminism.
batboybisexualism: LMAOOOOOO.
Mogg Free: You heard that, George?
batboybisexualism: Paging George!!!!!!!!!!!
Mogg Free: Are you here with us, George?
Mogg Free: And that wasn't a green screen, and you're actually somewhere in Alabama while they filmed that scene?
batboybisexualism: She'd love him even if he were a worm.
Mogg Free: What the hell is happening?
Mogg Free: You heard that, George?
batboybisexualism: George!!!!!!!!!
Mogg Free: This is corny, isn't it, George?
Mogg Free: Wait, George, you don't even have a role in this scene.
batboybisexualism: His role is making silly faces, lol.
batboybisexualism: Jerseyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!
Mogg Free: I'll never trust Amy Sedaris again.
Mogg Free: Hahahahahahahaha.
Final Reactions and Ratings
Mogg Free: Movie rating, Sko?
Mogg Free: No, no. Don't go there.
batboybisexualism: Every rom-com from the past few years seems to be trying to become the "return to the good old rom-coms" of the '90s and 2000s.
batboybisexualism: Georgeeeee!!!!!!!!!!
batboybisexualism: GAY RIGHTS!!!!!
Mogg Free: Oh, okay. A sketch cameo for Tony Hale. Great.
Mogg Free: How busy was Tony Hale during this production?
batboybisexualism: Hmm... I don't know. Maybe 2.5 stars?
Mogg Free: George, you did an awful job as an HR representative.
batboybisexualism: CUCK RIGHTS!
Mogg Free: Maybe another seminar, George.
batboybisexualism: Eyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!
batboybisexualism: First genuine laugh-out-loud moment.
Mogg Free: This is a farce.
batboybisexualism: Him saying "Get the hell out of my office."
batboybisexualism: This is actually a good ending-credits idea.
Mogg Free: God, that raspy angry voice.
Mogg Free: This is ridiculous.
batboybisexualism: Yayyyyy!
Mogg Free: Yes, the Sassy Gay Friend!
batboybisexualism: GAY RIGHTS!!!!!
Mogg Free: Yes! Brian and Tony! Hahaha!
Mogg Free: Honestly, we could have just skipped straight to the ending.
batboybisexualism: Okay, yeah. I feel like they tied everything together well at the end, even if the movie wasn't amazing.
Mogg Free: This is a farce.
Mogg Free: A farcical rom-com.
batboybisexualism: Maybe that's just the extra Tony Hale screen time talking, though.
batboybisexualism: Have you seen many rom-coms? A lot of them are completely insane like this.
Mogg Free: Maybe in the past.
Mogg Free: This one was awful, though.
Mogg Free: No, almost 1/5.
Mogg Free: My past self was right. This was awful.
batboybisexualism: Yeah, I'd say around 2.5/5. There were a lot of things I liked, even though it wasn't great overall.
Mogg Free: I've basically been bashing this movie the entire time.
Mogg Free: This belongs in Netflix's lowbrow movie category.
batboybisexualism: I noticed, lol.
batboybisexualism: It is very bashable, I'll give you that.
batboybisexualism: Netflix movies tend not to be great.
Mogg Free: Ooh, it was actually filmed in the Dominican Republic.
batboybisexualism: Oh, nice!
batboybisexualism: Post-credits scene?
Mogg Free: Lol, you know who had it worse than Tony?
batboybisexualism: Eeeeeeeeeeeee!
Mogg Free: Jackie Sandler.
Mogg Free: She only appeared in one shot, but because she's Adam Sandler's wife, she still got invited to the premiere.
batboybisexualism: Oh damn, lol.
batboybisexualism: Though his movies are way worse, in my opinion.
Mogg Free: This movie feels like a challenge to see how many famous D-, C-, and B-list actors they can squeeze into tiny roles.
batboybisexualism: They probably tried to elevate the movie with the side characters because the main characters weren't the strongest part.
Mogg Free: And the story.
Mogg Free: But why did they have Tony Hale doing publicity for this movie?
Mogg Free: That's what I don't understand.
batboybisexualism: They were probably just trying to promote the movie as much as possible.
Mogg Free: By the way, I haven't watched any interviews yet except Betty's, JLO's, and Brett's.
batboybisexualism: Yeah, me neither.
batboybisexualism: I haven't seen their interviews either, lol.
The Last Video Before Bed
Watching an Amy Sedaris interview where she briefly talked about the movie.
Mogg Free: Amy, you liar!!!
Mogg Free: Hey, Tony's a liar too.
Mogg Free: He called it a "fun movie."
Mogg Free: When an actor only describes a movie as "fun," you know it's not actually fun.
batboybisexualism: Not lying. She did work there, lol.
Mogg Free: Because his heart wasn't in it.
Mogg Free: Wait, what wasn't a lie?
batboybisexualism: When she said she worked in a hotel.
batboybisexualism: She's actually doing spy work, but technically that still counts as working in a hotel.
Mogg Free: Okay, that's it.
Mogg Free: Time to go on Letterboxd and bash this movie some more.
Mogg Free: Have a good night, Sko.
batboybisexualism: Have fun, my friend.
batboybisexualism: Good day!
My final review:
A baffling, farcical workplace rom-com filled with disconnected plot points that build toward something intriguing, only to fall flat because the film never gives them proper attention or payoff.
The imprisoned sister storyline is the clearest example—it feels like it should be central, but is instead used only as background motivation.
On my case, there was initial curiosity about the supporting cast. With Tony Hale; his marketing presence and credit feel misleading compared to how little his HR role factors into the actual story.
The film also has a couple of brief, “rage-y” graphic moments—a blink-and-you-miss-it and unexpectedly explicit CGI childbirth scene—that feel like shock inserts rather than meaningful story beats.
There’s also a half-developed satire of the “workaholic executive woman” archetype in Sydney (Betty Gilpin) whose characterization goes from 1 to 10 in terms of crazy.
Overall, it feels like a collection of undercooked ideas rather than a coherent rom-com.
Anyway the message of the movie is it's okay and unavoidable to have office romances. But the movie is farcical enough to not take it seriously and if George were a better HR officer this would have never happened lol
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