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Netflix, adding to its off-season offerings, brought along The Royal Treatment, a progressive rom-com, on January 20. The modern fairytale focuses on an indomitable spirited hairdresser from New York, for whom a royal gateway lies gives way to an unforeseeable future.
Beautifully written by Holly Hester and directed by Rick Jacobson, the movie showcases the fresh faces of Laura Marano and Mena Massoud in leading roles. Bonding over familial differences, childhood, and duty, the chemistry between the hairstylist and the royal monarch sets the screen ablaze.
Disclaimer: Spoilers ahead!
'The Royal Treatment': The plotline
The Royal Treatment opens into the bustling streets of the New York suburbs, brimming with life. Amidst this emerges Isabella, the owner of the Bellisseme Salon, who is a breath of fresh air with an indomitable positive spirit. This Italian harbors a dream of traveling the world.
At the same time, the young monarch of Lavania, Prince Thomas, comes on screen. Stifled under royal duties, the prince has no one he can have an honest conversation with. A chance encounter makes the two meet, where the prince's butler Walter mistakenly summoned Isabella for a haircut.
Within the first thirty minutes, it is clear to the viewers that Isabella treats people for who they are and not from where they come from. Her unabashed honesty, quick wit, and habit of befriending people takes the prince by surprise, who takes an instant liking for her.
After a day's rendezvous, Isabella, along with her co-workers Destiny and Lola, are invited to the royal wedding of the young prince of Lavania, where they are entrusted with the duty of hair and makeup for every royal in the wedding.
Amidst the gorgeous backdrop of Lavania's hamlet, viewers see how the betrothed prince develops feelings for his new friend, who has an uncanny zeal for achieving things in life. Under a canopy of stars in a joyous village-town, as both discuss life, loss, and dreams, neither realizes that sparks fly, entangling their destinies together.
Towards the end
The Royal Treatment progresses with the wedding as planned, while small victories are championed by the couple together. But as the beautiful journey nears its completion, a few questions arise.
Will Thomas, an uptight royal, give in to an arranged matrimonial alliance as decided by his parents to save the monarchy? Will Isabella settle to follow her dreams even if it means negating her family's wishes? Will love be able to find a way of ensuring a future together for this unusual couple?
All these questions unfold incredibly, as The Royal Treatment fuses the generic tropes of royalty and romance into progressive outcomes where happy endings are a part of fantasies lived. From the gorgeous costumes by Barbara Darragh to the incredible songs sung by actress Laura Marano, The Royal Treatment is sure to strike a chord.
