Credit: Netflix

Overboard is back on the Netflix charts, and not just for one but two weeks in a row. And it makes perfect sense once you remember what this movie is giving you, because at the end of the day, it is built around one very specific pleasure: watching a man who has never struggled a day in his life suddenly realise he has absolutely no idea how to function without money doing the heavy lifting for him.

You start with this yacht-owning heir, Leonardo, who talks to workers like they are invisible or robots and moves through the world with that untouchable confidence that only comes from never being told no. Luckily, within the first stretch of the movie, he is thrown into the ocean and wakes up in a hospital with no memory of who he is, which is already wild enough before the real fun even starts.

Now here is where Overboard gets mischievously interesting. The last person he insulted just happens to be Anna Faris’s character, Kate, who is juggling three daughters, a construction job, and a life that runs on actual effort instead of inherited privilege. So when our lady Kate realises this man, who once treated her like she did not matter, has no memory left, she does not panic or overcomplicate the situation. God, how we miss Faris’s comic era!

She looks at the opportunity sitting right in front of her and decides he is about to experience a very different version of reality. Suddenly, this former yacht prince is being told he has a wife, three kids, and a job that requires waking up before sunrise, and watching that shift play out is where the movie really locks in.

The comedy is not just about him being confused for five minutes and then magically adapting. It comes from the slow, uncomfortable adjustment. He wakes up sore and does not know how to use basic tools. He tries to move with the same old arrogance and keeps running into situations where that energy does not work anymore.

Kate’s daughters are clearly not impressed, and that dynamic is half the fun because kids have no patience for nonsense. It becomes more hilarious when they constantly test whether this version of him is actually trying or just coasting.

At the same time, Kate is not written as someone waiting to be dazzled. She is watching him closely, measuring effort instead of words, and that makes the whole thing feel more real than you would expect from a premise this ridiculous. And don’t worry, there is something for the romance fans too, and no, it does not explode out of nowhere. It builds out of routine, out of showing up consistently, out of the small stuff that barely gets noticed. And that is what makes it feel real because you are not just watching a rich guy lose his memory; you are watching him slowly learn how to exist in a world that does not revolve around him.

Of course, the truth cannot stay hidden forever, because the entire story is built on a lie, and when his old life comes crashing back in, something unexpected happens. But hey, we guess you’ll have to watch the film to know the end.

But we guarantee you that the end will be satisfying, and that’s probably the reason why people keep circling back to this movie. Also, it’s nice to see someone with too much ego get humbled just enough to grow up.