I absolutely loved Through my Window (A través de mi ventana), so I was super excited to watch the second film based on the book series by Ariana Godoy. I knew it would be a little problematic in that part of what made the first film so good was the great hate to love romance. Here in book/film #2 the couple is together just separated by distance, with Ares studying medicine at a school in Stockholm and Raquel studying literature at home in Barcelona. The conflict came in the form of Ares being adrift, questioning why he is studying medicine at all and really just missing Raquel. Raquel is also spending far too much time on her phone with Ares, but she does have an opportunity to send her manuscript to a publisher. (I really liked that it ended up being Yoshi's legacy.) Ares comes home for a break and whisks Raquel off for a seaside get reacquainted vacation...but his two brothers (Apollo and Artemis) end up crashing the vacation with their various friends.
I didn't enjoy this film nearly as much as the first film...it suffered from the midst of the story as it ends not where fans will want it to end...feeling undone, or as the narrator says broken. I did enjoy some of the sun, sand and sex that I would want in a summer film, but personally I can't wait for the third and final film. Is this a recommendation...yes, I still love the characters of Raquel and Ares and as a romantic, I still find myself rooting for them. I also think you need to see this in order to watch the third film. I wouldn't recommend this as a stand alone film however, you definitely need the context of the first film...even though that could be watched as a stand alone film. I find myself upset with Artemis and wanting to beat him with my shoe, and I am actually feeling sorry for Apollo as he seems to be a good kid...Raquel's friend Daniella probably needs to be hit a few times with a shoe for the way she treats him.
