(Credit: Netflix)

There are some movies that do not try too hard yet end up staying with you for days. Always Be My Maybe is one of them. If you are looking for something warm, funny, and emotionally honest this Saturday night, then this Netflix original is exactly what you need. It is a rom-com that understands the messiness of real people, serves up relatable chaos, and does not rely on overdone fairy tale tropes.

Set in San Francisco, the film tells the story of Sasha Tran and Marcus Kim, two childhood friends who grow up together, grow apart, and eventually stumble back into each other’s lives years later. It sounds like the classic “will they, won’t they” template, and to some extent, it is. But what makes Always Be My Maybe different is its refusal to treat love as something glossy or predictable.

Sasha, played by Ali Wong, is a celebrity chef who has made it big in the culinary world. She is stylish, successful, and extremely driven. Marcus, played by Randall Park, is still living with his dad and playing gigs with his local band. He is smart, charming, and quietly stuck. Their reunion does not happen with dramatic music or slow-motion glances. It happens through awkward dinners, childhood memories, and conversations that feel genuinely lived in.

Netflix has given us many romantic comedies over the years, but this one stands out for its cultural texture. The film is proudly Asian-American, and it never turns that into a plot point. It is just there, in the food, in the family dynamics, in the slang, and in the background jokes that hit hard if you know and still land if you do not.

What also works is that Always Be My Maybe is not afraid to be quiet. It lets characters talk, make mistakes, avoid their feelings, and then work their way through it without the pressure of a perfect moment. When Sasha and Marcus fight, it does not feel scripted. When they laugh, it feels earned. And when they reconnect, it is not because they need each other. It is because they finally want each other on equal terms.

The movie also features one of the most iconic surprise cameos in Netflix history. Without spoiling too much, let us just say it involves Keanu Reeves playing an absolutely wild version of himself. That dinner scene alone is worth the watch. It is unhinged in the best way, and it perfectly breaks the tension while showing how truly ridiculous dating can get.

Always Be My Maybe does not shout for your attention. It knows that comfort is underrated. It is not trying to reinvent the genre. It is simply giving you two people with history, tension, and love that does not need to be proven with grand gestures. Sometimes love looks like home-cooked soup. Sometimes it looks like learning how to say what you feel without fear.

If you are scrolling through Netflix tonight, unsure of what to commit to, give this one a shot. It will not overwhelm you. It will not rush you. But it will make you feel understood.