For those who love a good Nicholas Sparks film, there comes Todo Lo Que Nunca Fuimos, a Spanish romance drama from director Jorge Alonso. When Oliver reaches out to his best friend Axel to take care of his younger sister, hidden feelings soon develop between the two.
A year after the death of their parents, Oliver (Sebastián Zurita) and Leah (Margarida Corceiro) gather at Axel’s (Maxi Iglesias) family home for Christmas. Axel is Oliver’s best friend, and he has to relocate for a new job, so he asks Axel to take in his nineteen-year-old sister while she finishes high school. Leah took a year off of school and didn’t graduate on time because she was mourning the death of her parents. Although Axel is a free spirit who surfs in the morning and lives a bachelor lifestyle in a house overlooking the ocean, he can’t say no to his best friend.
When Leah first moves in, she’s quiet and closed off. Axel does his best to make her feel at home. There’s a secret that Leah holds: she has been in love with Axel for a long time, which makes the living situation more awkward. As time passes, Leah gets back to being her old self. She was once a painter, and Axel tries to encourage her to paint again. As they bond one night over some drinks, she discusses with him a list of “to-dos” that she had once created but doesn’t remember anymore. Axel tells her to make a new one, and as the list gets written, one of her requests is a kiss from Axel. He initially shrugs it off but finally gives in, giving her a peck until it turns more passionate. The kiss then opens up feelings in Axel, and when he and Leah explore their attraction, it leads to questions: Can they keep it going, and what will happen when Oliver returns and finds out?
Axel and Leah share a tender moment together in Todo Lo Que Nunca Fuimos.
“A year after the death of their parents, Oliver and Leah gather at Axel’s family home for Christmas.”
The film is actually based on the 2023 book All That We Never Were by Alice Kellen. The book itself is the first in a duology, so there could be potential for a sequel film. Jorge Alonso managed to balance this adaptation with the proper pacing that built up to the romance portion and the necessary conflict for the two characters to sort out their newly found, yet somewhat forbidden, attraction.
I’ve seen more than my fair share of these types of romance novel adaptations, and the one key thing that has to work is the casting of the actors. The on-screen chemistry between actors Maxi Iglesias and Margarida Corceiro absolutely works. I wasn’t familiar with their previous credits, and perhaps going in blind like that helped. Margarida could almost be a younger, blonde-haired, blue-eyed sister to Felicity Jones, while Maxi Iglesias’ screen presence mimics that of a Spanish Bradley Cooper. The French actress Ludivine Sagnier once caught Hollywood’s eye after her performance in The Swimming Pool, and I could see Margarida Corceiro having that opportunity eventually.
Overall, Todo Lo Que Nunca Fuimos delivers exactly what fans of romance dramas are looking for, with a story that may feel familiar but still manages to bring enough heart and chemistry to make it stand out.
"…Maxi Iglesias' screen presence mimics…a Spanish Bradley Cooper."
