The Netflix Spanish romance film Through My Window: Across the Sea delivered plenty of steam, but it also featured a shocking and tragic ending.
Summary
- The Netflix-exclusive sequel, Through My Window: Across the Sea, is a steamy romance film with a tragic ending that leaves a beloved character dead.
- Critics gave the film a low rating due to its weak story and cardboard cutout characters, but it stands out for its willingness to go to darker places in the YA romance genre.
- The film explores the strained relationship between Raquel and Ares, the arrival of a jealous old friend, and the shocking death of a close friend, setting the stage for further developments in the upcoming third film.
The Netflix-exclusive sequel Through My Window: Across the Sea delivers plenty of steamy romance, but the Spanish film also features a tragic and shocking ending that leaves a beloved character dead. Released in 2023 and coming as a follow-up to 2022's Through My Window, the film follows Raquel (Clara Galle) and Ares (Julio Peña) as their burgeoning relationship is put to the test by the distance between them, and the arrival of old and new lovers. Between the copious scenes of soft-core lovemaking, Across the Sea also weaves a complicated series of narrative threads that give each of the main characters someone to pine over.
Critics were understandably harsh to the streaming romance flick, and Through My Window: Across the Sea earned a paltry 0% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The most prevalent gripe with the movie is that it lacks a strong story, and the characters are mere cardboard cutouts in various stages of undress. Despite that, the movie joins an ever-growing list of original romance films on Netflix, including a host of ongoing movie series that tell their tales of young love over a handful of installments. What sets Through My Window: Across the Sea apart is that the shocking ending went places that few YA romance stories are willing to go.
Vera's Photo
Through My Window: Across the Sea would be nothing without some drama, and Raquel's relationship with Ares was clearly on the rocks from the first frame of the sequel. Not only had the distance between them as they studied in different countries harmed their intimate connection, but things were once again pressed when they did finally reunite. The arrival of Ares' old friend Vera (Andrea Chaparro) was met with a jealous response from Raquel right away, and the fact that both Ares and Vera were standoffish about their past only made things worse. The fact that Vera wouldn't definitively confirm or deny allegations was practically proof in Raquel's mind.
It all came to a head when Raquel saw a photo of Vera wearing one of Ares' shirts in a moment of obvious post-coitus bliss. Ares claimed he had no idea how she got the shirt, but he also countered that story by saying he often drowned his sorrows in alcohol and couldn't recall if the pair had spent the night together. While the picture wasn't the last straw for the Raquel/Ares relationship, it did put further strain on their love affair which was already suffering because of the long-distance arrangement.
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Movies about young love usually focus more on kissing and less on earth-shattering tragedy, but Through My Window: Across the Sea pulled out all the stops for its shocking ending. Yoshi (Guillermo Lasheras) had been Raquel's close friend since the first film, and his secret crush on her had frequently impeded other blossoming romances from forming because he was holding out for her. Across the Sea saw the arrival of Anna (Carla Tous) who not only stuck up for him in the face of almost constant bullying but even got intimate with him occasionally throughout the film.
Through My Window (2022) also streams on Netflix
Despite that, the end of the movie saw Yoshi opt to not spend the night with Anna in the hope that Raquel would be around. He attended a party where, once again, he was mercilessly bullied by a bunch of local goons who picked on him for his sensitive demeanor and pink hair. In an emotional outburst, Yoshi stole a motorbike and fled the scene under the cover of night. Unable to control the bike, Yoshi plummeted off of a cliff and into the water below. Ares arrived on the scene and attempted to save him, but it was ultimately too late.
Yoshi Submitted Raquel’s Book
Yoshi's death came as a shock to all, and it also served as the catalyst for several huge developments in the story that had been simmering. But before the shocking funeral, Raquel learned that her old buddy had actually done her one last favor before his tragic fall. Not only was Yoshi holding out hope that Raquel would one day love him, but he also appointed himself as her honorary literary agent and took it upon himself to submit the manuscript of her book to an eager publisher. He did that without Raquel's knowledge, and she only learned of it when she got the news that the publisher wanted to move forward with her novel.
As is usually the case, movies about aspiring writers don't realistically reflect the complicated world of publishing, and Raquel's first-time status would most likely have made it much more difficult for her to get her book published. Nevertheless, the gesture was more important than the simple fact that Raquel's dreams came true, it also served to twist the knife a bit more regarding Yoshi's death. He clearly loved Raquel and worked his tail off to get her book in front of a publisher, and he died without ever getting to tell her how much she meant to him, but he did show it through his actions.
Do Ares And Raquel Stay Together?
Raquel and Ares weathered the storm that was their long-distance relationship, and they even seemingly made it through the Vera debacle with only minor injuries, but their blow-up at the funeral was the last straw. Already in a heightened emotional state because of Yoshi's death, Raquel made a scene over his in-casket wardrobe, and she followed it up with a eulogy that aired a lot of personal business as well. She lashed out at Ares with a jab about how he failed to resuscitate Yoshi because he wasn't paying attention in med school, and he fired back as well.
Ares didn't hold back when he blamed Raquel for being distracted at med school, and he went on to imply that she was the reason Yoshi died. Not reading the temperature in the room at all, Ares' last jab was a bridge too far and the couple seemingly broke it off with one last argument that laid bare all the worst aspects of their tumultuous love affair. Since another film is on the horizon, Through My Window: Across the Sea probably wasn't the end of Raquel and Ares, but it certainly represents their second act's low point.
Artemis Finally Holds Claudia’s Hand
On a more cheery note, Through My Window: Across the Sea wasn't all doom and gloom, and the ending even saw one romance catch fire while another burned out. Artemis (Eric Masip) and Claudia (Emilia Lazo) had one of the strangest romances in the series since he was her boss and she worked as a maid within his palatial estate. With attitudes ripped straight from the Victorian Era, Artemis could never admit his relationship with Claudia publicly because they were in wildly different classes and people would talk. Fortunately, the so-bad-it's-good Netflix romance flipped the script and Artemis finally held Claudia's hand in public.
Why Did Raquel Close Her Window?
As the title of the series suggests, Raquel's bedroom window has great symbolic value in her relationship with Ares since it is where he first entered her life and even served as the basis for her first book. After their fight at the funeral, Raquel returned home, and in a massively symbolic gesture, closed her bedroom window. That visual storytelling not only hammered home that the movie was over, but it also seemed to suggest that her relationship with Ares was done for. The presence of a third film seems to contradict that idea, but it certainly left Through My Window: Across the Sea on a rather dour note.
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Though it would be easy to say that Through My Window: Across the Sea is all about smooching and not about any sort of deeper meaning, the ending of the film had more to say. Since it is a young adult romance, there are elements of coming-of-age movies woven into the storytelling and that means Raquel must gain some kind of knowledge besides the carnal variety. She learned not to take others for granted, and she clearly got a dose of reality when she saw exactly where she stood with Ares.
By closing the window, Raquel clearly closed a chapter in her life, but the impending release of 2024's Through My Window: Looking at You proves she has even more to learn. While it is almost a certainty that more steamy scenes are coming soon, Raquel herself has a chance to grow from the less-than-developed protagonist into a full-fledged character who has wants and needs beyond Ares. Ares too can grow a little as well, and the reunion after Through My Window: Across the Sea can be even better because it is emotionally earned.
