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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ready to Mingle’ on Netflix, a Flimsy Rom-com About One Woman’s Desperate Quest for an Engagement Ring

Where to stream:.

• Ready to Mingle ("Solteras")

The original title for Netflix movie Ready to Mingle is Solteras , which, translated from Spanish, is Singles . Gen-Xers with a couple Pearl Jam CDs in a box in the basement understand why that title is off limits, so someone in an office somewhere threw together three words without thinking that they might conjure long-entombed thoughts about Failure to Launch and Christian Mingle , two films of dubious quality. Or maybe it’s just me, he said, humming “Dyslexic Heart” to himself. Anyway, does this new Mexican comedy transcend the low expectations put forth by its mediocre title?

READY TO MINGLE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Ana (Cassandra Ciangherotti) really really really really really really really really really really really wants to be married. So she tries really hard to get married. The end!

Not enough detail? OK — in the movie’s opening scenes, Ana splits up with her boyfriend of 10 years, Gabriel (Pablo Cruz), because he doesn’t want to get married. Six months later, she’s a complete shitshow, plastered at her parents’ 35th wedding anniversary party, stumbling around, giving embarrassing speeches, making everything about herself and generally inspiring cringes from here to Betelgeuse. She sloshes over to Gabriel’s apartment, drops all her clothes and barges into a dinner party with his new fiancee and her parents. Whoops.

So what do you do when you hit rock bottom? Ana stops drinking, gets a new hobby and goes to therapy every other week, hoping to improve herself. The end.

No! Actually, she attends a recurring workshop lorded over by a “love coach,” who teaches Ana and a few other discontented bachelorettes how to snag a man and a ring, putting them on a path to happily ever after. They get makeovers and dating tips, learn to play mind games, stuff like that. Cue the fashion/hair/makeup montage; cue the bad-date montage; cue the Ana-bonding-with-her-classmates montage. But then, she meets Diego (Juan Pablo Medina) while he’s taking deep inhalations of a package of toilet paper in a convenience store aisle. He’s tall, salt-and-pepper handsome, a foodie, an architect. Will it work between them? Will Ana ever get be happy? And what was with that toilet paper sniffing, anyway?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: This is a Bridesmaids ripoff. Ciangherotti even seems to have intently studied all of Kristen Wiig’s eccentric mannerisms for the role.

Performance Worth Watching: Ciangherotti has a goofy charm that would function quite well with a better screenplay. She’s the only thing keeping Ready to Mingle from lead-ballooning itself. Somebody, please give her a better character and funnier things to say.

Memorable Dialogue: Ana’s speech at her parents’ anniversary is deeply touching: “I still hope to find someone. If you want to help me, please dial 5540-3242.”

Sex and Skin: Horizontal underwear smooching. And Ana’s naked “surprise” for her ex is cleverly edited.

Our Take: The TP-sniffing is never explained. Make up your own fanfic, people.

As for Ana, she’s a bundle of superficial tics and miscellaneous weirdnesses, a character written thin and shallow. The movie wants her to be a lovable loon, but she’s a question mark. Was she this goofy before the breakup? What are her interests? Her parents have been happily married forever, her sister and cousin enjoy successful relationships, and she’s feeling pressure from… within, I guess? Or without? Is SOCIETY putting the screws to her? Has she always dreamt of the conventional life of marriage, family, domesticity? Is she one of those Women Who Want it All that we see so often in movies? Is she so obsessed with getting married that all other components of her personality have been brushed aside? If so, why?

• Romantic Comedies

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Is 'find me falling' based on a true story how australian "angel" don ritchie inspired the netflix movie, stream it or skip it: ‘find me falling’ on netflix, a tin-eared rom-com about music, lost love and, uh, suicide, where was 'find me falling' filmed discover the cyprus filming locations for the harry connick jr. netflix movie.

Easy answer: I don’t know. The movie just assumes all/most women are just this way, I guess. Which makes it old-fashioned, a little backwards and not particularly progressively feminist. Not that it absolutely has to be the latter, mind you. Films needn’t plow the political share, but they do need to accurately represent human behaviour in order to touch upon recognizable truths and inspire laughter. They can even do this lightly, without making us think about all the world’s troubles. There are moments where Ready to Mingle emits a satirical vapor, but it ultimately fails to commit, and flails for easy laughs, sometimes at Ana’s expense. It’s slightly cruel in that way, a product of its outright lack of any ambition. It renders its protagonist a blank and all the supporting roles are flimsy stereotypes. It’s a reminder that functional comedy needs to be rooted in character, not situations.

Our Call: SKIP IT. So Ana really really really really really really really wants to get married. Does she succeed? Who cares. This movie is a mess. Always Be My Maybe is 20 times the romantic comedy this thing is. It’s also on Netflix. Watch that instead.

Should you stream or skip #ReadyToMingle on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) October 3, 2019

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba .

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Ready to Mingle Review: The Netflix Formula Strikes Again, Barely Hitting the Mark

Netflix’s Spanish take on the rom-com uses its tried-and-true formula to create a film that’s barely fun enough to keep watching.

It’s no secret that Netflix has a formula when it comes to romantic comedies. In a span of a few months, they made movies such as The Kissing Booth , To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before , Sierra Burgess is a Loser, The Perfect Date , Someone Great , and Set It Up . That’s not even the entire list. For several of these movies, they used the same actor: the jack of one trade Noah Centineo. 

This formula has been wildly popular, and some of the above films are quite good, especially if you’re looking for something light and uncomplicated. In recent times, Netflix has produced more and more originals in different languages, giving minority communities their shot at using the formula. Netflix’s new Spanish rom-com Ready to Mingle ( Solteras in Spanish ) isn’t taking any big swings or making any leaps in the genre, but it’s doing just enough to keep your attention.

Ready to Mingle follows Ana (Cassandra Ciangherotti) as she struggles to find a husband, find love, and finally find herself. It’s a classic rom-com, starting with a breakup, and then tracking a barrage of bad dates until she finds a great guy in Diego (Juan Pablo Medina). She is an initially unlikeable heroine, slow to show affection, heart, or any sort of direction. 

Directed and written by Luis Javier Henaine, the film has its moments and if enough people see it, the underworld of Twitter memes will have an absolute field day. The first 15 minutes feature almost every rom-com trope in the books: a wedding breakup, Ana getting too drunk at a party and making an awful speech, Ana going over drunk to her ex-boyfriend’s apartment, getting naked, and learning he’s engaged to someone else, and Ana even begging her ex to stay by holding onto his leg. It’s a whiplash of clichés, making it difficult not to laugh at our lead, even if what she’s saying isn’t all that funny.

Ana decides to take a “husband-finding workshop”, led expertly by Lucila (Gabriela de la Garza). Her class of fellow women is Bridesmaids -esque, and that’s the highest compliment I can give. They might play into previous tropes and Henaine is certainly borrowing from others, but they’re funny. The women work well together and keep the film afloat. The laughs are shared between the group and the camaraderie is palatable.   

There’s no getting around some of the morality, though. The movie is almost shockingly traditional and heteronormative. It focuses on the looks of women, the disgust of men, and the need to lie in order to find love. The lessons given at the workshop are tough to stomach. Ana’s subsequent behavior is even tougher to rally around.

The redemption of Ana’s arc ending as a single woman is unfortunately not enough to salvage the several layers of poor messaging mashed together throughout the film. It feels too little too late, as the women have all found (a bit of) happiness in the last five minutes of the movie, which provides that warm feeling a rom-com can give, but it’s a little too empty and a little too sour to truly enjoy.

There is something to be said about Netflix giving an opportunity to a Mexican director and Mexican actors to be seen on a larger platform, though, and I’m still (barely) glad this film was made. It provided enough laughs to keep watching and it provided an important opportunity for more Spanish movies to be made and then seen in the future.

Ready to Mingle is problematic, formulaic, and a fine way to spend an evening. There’s one thing Netflix will keep churning out.

Article by Michael Frank

Michael Frank is a film critic and entertainment journalist based out of Brooklyn, New York, and he joined Ready Steady Cut in September 2017, publishing over 80 articles for the website. Michael’s eye for Film and TV has gotten him noticed, and he has become a Rotten Tomatoes-certified critic.

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‘Ready to Mingle’ is a snappy rom-com for the extremely online era

The mexican rom-com explores the meaning of marriage in the modern era with biting wit and casual charm..

Brenden Gallagher

Posted on Oct 2, 2019     Updated on May 20, 2021, 2:21 am CDT

What is the role of marriage in the era of online dating? 

This question gets asked over and over again in blog posts and “Modern Love” essays, but it hasn’t had many good cinematic answers.

There are a couple of reasons for this. The rom-com has become a lower-budget affair in recent years, and it seems that most studios’ efforts in the genre are fairly high-concept, like Long Shot or Isn’t It Romantic ? Outside of studios, rom-coms have skewed younger. Netflix has made a slew of them recently, but films like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before , Set It Up , and Tall Girl are geared toward a teenage audience.

Mexican rom-com Ready to Mingle ( Solteras ), released by Netflix on Wednesday, is at once a loving throwback and a modern update. Along with American film Plus One , the movie marks a mini-resurgence of a tried-and-true subgenre: A woman looks around and realizes that everyone she knows is getting married, and she’s going to do something about her own prospects.

Ready To Mingle might be the best version of this type of story since Bridget Jones’s Diary . The sharp film addresses the absurdities and complexities of modern dating with wit and charm. A strong cast balances humor and heart while the script explores love and marriage in 2019.

Again, the story is fairly familiar. Ana (Cassandra Ciangherotti) is a mess. Her boyfriend left her for someone else. Her friends and family members are getting engaged. She responds by drinking too much, feeling sorry for herself, and generally making things worse.

After her cousin gets engaged, she reveals to Ana that she took classes on finding a husband. Ana hates the idea, but she feels like she is running out of options, so she decides to give it a shot. 

The film works particularly well thanks to Ciangherotti, whom American audiences probably know best from Los Espookys . Here, she plays an equally sardonic but more lively character, similar to Aubrey Plaza but without the laconic detachment. Her acerbic wit recalls some of the best skeptical rom-com anti-heroines, such as Bridget Jones and Kristen Wiig’s Annie in Bridesmaids . 

Ready to Mingle carefully  thinks about how dating has changed in the late 2010s, and is always up for interrogating our current romantic moment.  “We live in difficult times,” marriage guru Lucila (Gabriela de la Garza) tells her class before dishing out rules for dating in the online era. “Technology allows us to find a partner in one simple click. And with another we can get rid of them. They have more options to choose from nowadays, but so do we.” 

A number of recent rom-coms have struggled to adapt genre cliches to the social media age. Ready to Mingle smartly  uses the internet as a plot device. Facebook tells Ana all of her friends are getting married. Dating apps complicate her love life. One student in the class asks, “Isn’t that why we have the internet, so we don’t have to go out?”

The film also handles modern sexual mores with brash confidence. In one scene, the girls in the class learn how to start saying no to sex on the first date. “You won’t gain anything from having sex on the first date,” Lucila instructs them. “Except for some pleasure, but that’s what vibrators are for.”

Perhaps most importantly,  Ready to Mingle  strikes a deft balance in dramatizing Ana’s struggle while reveling in the absurdity of defining oneself by a romantic partner. Ana’s sister chides her after she joins the class: “There are many ways to make your life meaningful. Buy a dog like everybody else.”

Ready to Mingle isn’t a perfect film. Like many rom-coms, it struggles near the end of act two as the comedic momentum sags and the plot needs to launch toward an endgame. But the movie’s earnest charms and sardonic wit more than compensate for its flaws. 

Sometimes, the key to a good rom-com isn’t reinventing the wheel, but carefully considering how the wheel could be updated for a newer, fresher model.  Ready to Mingle pulls off the admirable feat of making a marriage rom-com for a generation that isn’t so sure about marriage, and it remains just as skeptical as we do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt6LVEcyj-A

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Brenden Gallagher is a politics reporter and cultural commentator. His work has been published by Motherboard, Complex, and VH1. He’s the co-founder of Beer Money Films, an indie production company. Based in Los Angeles, he works in television drama as a writers assistant.

• What To Watch Next?

Ready To Mingle

Ana suddenly finds herself single and getting increasingly desperate joins a class on how to find a husband. ready to mingle is a really authentic and relatable mexican comedy that is as sweet as it is funny. kudos to cassandra ciangherotti who carries the movie brilliantly..

Ready To Mingle is the brilliantly funny Mexican comedy, also known as Solteras – which actually means ‘Single'. Ana has been dating Gabriel for 10 years and so far there's no sign of a ring on her finger. Frustrated by the fact that all of her friends seem to be off getting married, Ana decides to apply some pressure. However, Gabriel promptly decides he's not the marrying type and Ana finds herself very single very quickly.

To add insult to injury, her cousin has managed to get a proposal after only three months of dating . Wanting to know how she did it, Ana discovers she took a class on how to find a man to marry. Reluctantly Ana ( Cassandra Ciangherotti ) signs up for the class and soon the mission to find a husband begins. Steps include a full make-over, tips on questions to ask and avoid and the dos and don'ts of putting yourself out there.

So armed with a new set of rules Ana goes off in pursuit of a husband. As the title suggests, she is after all single and Ready To Mingle ! But with one failed date and encounter after another, it just doesn't seem to be working. Then she meets Diego (Juan Pablo Medina) and soon things are starting to look up. But Ana has a singular focus and that is to get engaged and married at all costs. When Diego hasn't proposed within weeks of them dating she starts to panic that it will never happen – especially when one of the other girls in the group sprouts a ring! Will Ana get her happy ever after or will she sabotage it?

Now, of course, the premise of the movie is questionable. The desperation to find a man, any man, is enough to make the more cynical of us roll our eyes. But if you look past it, what you get with Ready to Mingle is a very authentic comedy – think ‘ In Family I Trust ‘ or ‘ Despite Everything ‘.

Ana, who looks uncannily like Emily Blunt ( A Quiet Place ), is a truly relatable character. She's been strung along for a decade and now finds that time is no longer her side. Constantly peppered with questions about her love life from family and friends, it is enough to drive anybody mad. So you can't really blame her. Thankfully there is a deeper point to the movie. Sometimes you just have to be happy with who you are on your own. So how will Ana end up? You have to watch Ready to Mingle to find out.

• Very Authentic
• Quirky & Witty
• Great Natural Cast Chemistry
• Far Too Much Emphasis On Finding A Man

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Ready to Mingle (2019) Stream and Watch Online

Watch 'ready to mingle' online.

Yearning to watch ' Ready to Mingle ' in the comfort of your own home? Tracking down a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or watch the Luis Javier Henaine-directed movie via subscription can be challenging, so we here at Moviefone want to take the pressure off. Read on for a listing of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'Ready to Mingle' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into all the details of how you can watch 'Ready to Mingle' right now, here are some details about the Moonlight Pictures comedy flick. Released October 3rd, 2019, 'Ready to Mingle' stars Cassandra Ciangherotti , Gabriela de la Garza , Mariana Cabrera , Irán Castillo The movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 37 min, and received a user score of 68 (out of 100) on TMDb, which collated reviews from 139 knowledgeable users. Interested in knowing what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "A wannabe bride seeks professional help to find a husband and in the process finds herself." 'Ready to Mingle' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Netflix , and Netflix basic with Ads .

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The 10 Best Break-Up Movies of the Last 5 Years, Ranked

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The Big Picture

• Breakup movies explore growth through heartache, showcasing relationships beyond just romance.
• Highlighting the importance of family, friends, and colleagues during difficult times in life.
• The last five years have delivered exceptional breakup films like 'The Worst Person in the World'.

In breakup movies, happily ever after doesn't necessarily mean one with a romantic ending. As the main characters travel through the valley of heartache, they emerge on the other side of the sorrow having grown stronger and more self-possessed than when they first began. And some romances need to be tested, to ensure they are strong enough to last. Like a controlled burn on a farm field, sometimes after the fire removes everything that was, new growth can emerge from the ashes .

Breakup movies also highlight other relationships in life that are essential, especially when going through a difficult time, like those with family, friends, and colleagues. The last five years of cinema have produced some great films in the genre, and here are 10 that are well worth a watch. Some will make you cry with laughter, and others with emotion, so either way, grab some tissues and hit play.

10 'The Worst Person in the World' (2022)

Directed by joachim trier.

A Norwegian film by Joachim Trier called The Worst Person in the World features Renate Reinsve as Julie, a young woman trying to find her way in life and uncertain about who or what direction is best for her. As she passes from one relationship to another, she learns something new about herself each time, but it often comes at the expense of someone else's time, love, and emotions.

The film is esoteric and explores the internal and external struggles that come with a journey of self-discovery. It pays homage to the fact that those who choose to get involved in romantic relationships as a way to try and discover who they are end up doing collateral damage . The film was nominated for two O scars and won several international film awards.

The Worst Person in the World

Watch on Hulu

9 'Persuasion' (2022)

Directed by carrie cracknell.

The latest adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel Persuasion stars Dakota Johnson as the main character, Anne Elliott. Anne was persuaded several years ago by a family friend, Lady Russell ( Nikki Amuka-Bird ) to ignore her feelings for the handsome naval captain, Frederick Wentworth ( Cosmo Jarvis ), and reject his marriage proposal. However, her feelings for him were stronger than she first realized and when he comes back into her life, she must acknowledge that she has never stopped loving him.

Persuasion is a great reminder that the advice of others should be taken with caution when it comes to love. Even though friends and family may have the best intentions, allowing them to have control over a relationship that doesn't involve them is risky. It utilizes the great romantic theme of love that stands the test of time and serves as a beacon of bittersweet hope that sometimes a separation is temporary, not permanent.

*Availability in US

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8 'Birds of Prey' (2020)

Directed by cathy yan.

One of the most dysfunctional and toxic romances in the DC universe is that of Harley Quinn ( Margot Robbie ) and the Joker ( Jared Leto ). The chaotic and criminal duo enjoy wreaking havoc and causing mayhem wherever they go. Harley Quinn is a dynamic fixture within the canon that started as a side character but has grown into a fan favorite and iconic persona .

In the thrilling Birds of Prey , Harley gets a chance to shine in the spotlight without a male counterpart to define her. Margot Robbie gives an inspired performance and breathes new life into the comic book femme fatale. The film has an exciting take on girl power as she pairs up with Huntress ( Mary Elizabeth Winstead ), Black Canary ( Jurnee Smollett ), and Renee Montoya ( Rosie Perez ). Birds of Prey gives Harley a chance to recognize her own strength. As she says, "I'm the one you should be afraid of." It is a great one to watch when you're ready for some rage.

Birds of Prey

Watch on Max

7 'Marriage Story' (2019)

Directed by noah baumbach.

If you are ready for a good, ugly cry and want to feel all the feels, then Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story is the one you want to watch. The poignant and heartfelt exploration of divorce does the drama justice. It takes the audience on the roller coaster of emotions that all involved feel during the difficult period of separation, especially when children and custody are involved.

Fantastic performances abound in this tender piece. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver are brilliant and there are great cameos by Hollywood legends such as Laura Dern , Ray Liotta , and Alan Alda . It is a favorite of fans and movie critics and was nominated for six Oscars .

Marriage Story

6 'the invisible man' (2020), directed by leigh whannell.

How do you prove that your ex is stalking you if no one can see them? When Cecilia ( Elisabeth Moss ) finds the courage and timing to leave her extremely controlling and abusive boyfriend, Adrian ( Oliver Jackson-Cohen ), she thinks she is finally free. Until she receives news that he has reportedly committed suicide. After his supposed demise, supernatural events start happening around her that make her feel that she is not alone, and her tormentor is physically near her, even if he can't be seen.

A gripping and heart-racing interpretation of the genre , The Invisible Man is a haunting twist on when exes become obsessed. It has themes of liberation and emancipation and audiences will be on the edge of their seats rooting for the heroine. The special effects are ingenious, and the jump scares are perfect. It is a great addition to a fright night breakup list.

The Invisible Man (2020)

Watch on Apple TV

5 'The Banshees of Inisherin' (2022)

Directed by martin mcdonagh.

Not all breakups are romantic in nature. When a deep and lasting friendship ends, it can cut as deeply as a lover leaving. In the critically acclaimed The Banshees of Inisherin , Colm Doherty ( Brendan Gleeson ) abruptly ends his long-term friendship with Pádraic Súilleabháin ( Colin Farrell ) with little more than a placating excuse that he finds him boring. No one in their small island village understands Colm's motivation, and when everyone refuses to accept his decision to terminate the relationship, he takes matters to a drastic level.

Farrell and Gleeson are superb , and the supporting cast is equally talented in this escalating drama. The movie gives proper gravitas to the weight that meaningful friendships can carry, and the devastation that is caused by the decomposition of intertwined social structures in a small community.

The Banshees of Inisherin

4 'we broke up' (2021), directed by jeff rosenberg.

When a long-term relationship ends, it does collateral damage . Friends and family have gotten used to having another person in their lives, and it can be painful for more than one person to say goodbye. In Netflix's touching, humorous, and surprisingly tender We Broke Up , Doug ( William Jackson Harper ) refuses to miss his recent ex-girlfriend Lori's ( Aya Cash ) family event.

After Doug proposes to Lori and she says no, they break up. Doug then insists, against Lori's wishes, to still attend her sister's ( Sarah Bolger ) wedding. As they try to keep up the pretense that they are still together, the truth is hard to keep under control when so many emotions are raw and near the surface. We Broke Up is a sweet insight into the many motivations that happen in a relationship and what it means to want the same thing . It also gives important attention to the deep connections romantic duos can develop with their partner's family.

We Broke Up

3 'polite society' (2023), directed by nida manzoor.

On the flip side of We Broke Up is the visually stunning and action-filled Polite Society . In the movie, Ria ( Priya Kansara ) has to fight, literally, to save her older sister Lena ( Ritu Arya ) from a rushed engagement to a wealthy bachelor, Salim ( Akshay Khanna ). As Ria tries to investigate Salim's motives for marrying her sister, his mother, Raheela ( Nimra Bucha ), proves to be a villainous and intimidating foe.

Stellar performances given by the enormously talented cast complement the brilliantly choreographed all-female fight scenes. It is a great action movie with the right amount of drama, and it will have you guessing until the very end. There are many deep and interesting themes to explore in the film, and the main idea of protecting a loved one from a toxic relationship is paramount. Other topics include considering what someone's family is like before you marry into it, mother-in-law and bride dynamics, sibling relationships, and more. It is a great breakup movie with a refreshing spin , as the breakup is made by someone other than the couple.

Polite Society

2 'ready to mingle' (solteras) (2019), directed by luis javier henaine.

When Ana's ( Cassandra Ciangherotti ) boyfriend, Gabriel ( Pablo Cruz ) dumps her, she goes through some understandable sorrow, especially since all of her friends are married. But, ever determined, she joins an official agency that is skilled in the art of wooing matrimony.

In the modern Spanish-speaking comedy Ready to Mingle , the humor is matched with gravitas. It deals with societal pressures to wed, comparison against friendship, and self-discovery. It also has a good character's journey, as Ana has to learn that even though her romantic life is not turning out how she wanted it to be, she has to avoid the temptation to be self-absorbed and be present for those around her . It is also encouraging to recognize that bonds with fellow single friends can provide solace and support.

Ready to Mingle

Watch on Netflix

1 'Someone Great' (2019)

Directed by jennifer kaytin robinson.

When Jenny ( Gina Rodriquez ) has to make a move for her career, her established boyfriend, Nate ( LaKeith Stanfield ) opts not to go with her, and to break up instead. Jenny then relies on her two best friends, Erin ( DeWanda Wise ) and Blair ( Brittany Snow ) to get her through the worst of her grieving process and have one last adventure before she leaves town.

The uplifting film features more than one love story as the three friends experience the highs and lows of love together . No matter the unique romantic challenges that each one faces, the other two are there to support them. Someone Great offers insightful and comedic commentary on dating in a post-millennial society and how having great people in your life is what makes life great. The cast deliver exceptional performances and the soundtrack is epic. The film is a great message in a bottle, reminding viewers that even if a romantic relationship ends, there are still many doors that love will walk through in life, and friendship is one of the most meaningful.

Someone Great (2019)

NEXT: 15 Emotional Breakup Movies That Had Everyone Ugly Crying

‘Ready to Mingle’ — air date, presenter, trailer, and all you need to know

Katherine Ryan will be hosting the new dating game show on ITV2.

In Summer we have Love Island but in Autumn we have Ready To Mingle , a brand new dating game show hosted by comedian Katherine Ryan that is sure to leave viewers hooked. 

The show’s focus is on a single girl on the hunt for her perfect partner. 12 male admirers will be competing for her attention and a chance to win a big cash prize. Although there’s a twist- not all of the boys are single. And they’re Ready to Mingle. 

Katherine Ryan told ITV: “I am so excited to be a part of this new dating game show. How could I say no? It’s like nothing we’ve seen before but still with all the drama and dating dilemmas we love to see, and I’ll be there front row as it all unfolds!”

Here's everything you need to know...

When will Ready to Mingle be on?

Ready to Mingle will be on ITV2 and ITV Hub in September, so we don't have long to wait!

What happens in Ready to Mingle? 

As the boys compete for the single girl’s liking, the taken boys will be secretly guided by their partners to try and win the big money prize. While they stay in a luxurious house, the singleton will get to know all of the suitors through activities, games and dates, and then get rid of each boy one-by-one until her ‘dream man’ remains.

Which man will be left standing? Can the single girl work out who is genuine? Or who’s just in it for the money?

Is there a trailer?

Yes! You can watch the trailer for the outrageous show below! It opens with Katherine Ryan saying: "One gorgeous girl and twelve adorable guys. Half of these boys are only in it for the money and are already in relationships!"

The short trailer doesn’t give much away as we’re then shown clips of the single girl doing various activities with the men, so we'll have to wait and see what happens...

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Grace is a freelancer writer with WhatToWatch.com, and she now writes for our sister site TechRadar. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in 2020 with a degree in Writing and Film Studies, which only made her love for creative writing, film and TV grow stronger.

You'll usually find her watching the drama unfold in the latest reality series or much-loved UK soaps (usually with chocolate by her side!). She's an expert in EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and everything reality-related from Selling Sunset and Married At First Sight UK to 90 Day Fiancé UK. Plus Netflix megahit Virgin River!

Grace also likes to explore new places with her friends and family and, of course, watch and read about the latest films and TV series. 

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Screen Rant

These married at first sight show elements are ruining its entertainment value (can the show be saved).

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I'm Convinced Married At First Sight Seasons Should Run Back To Back (How The Hiatus Is Detrimental)

90 day fiancé: statler riley & armando rubio's shocking feud explained, 1000-lb sisters: "you're pretty good lookin' for a girl:" tammy & amy's best striped outfits after weight loss milestones.

• MAFS' success rate is only 18.75% with few couples lasting and experts failing to match well.
• Shady, toxic cast members harm MAFS' reputation, impacting credibility and viewer trust.
• MAFS seasons are too long, and need to be shortened to maintain viewer interest and avoid filler.

There are several factors that are ruining Married at First Sight 's entertainment value, but if they're fixed, the show can be saved. Married at First Sight season 17 ended in late April 2024, and the season was largely a disaster and not received well by viewers. The same can be said for the last several seasons. In the franchise, 64 couples have gotten married at the altar to a stranger, and 12 of those couples are still together. That leaves MAFS ' success rate at 18.75%. In the last four seasons alone, only two out of 20 couples are still together.

However, the couples that have remained together are a shining example of how the show's unique experiment can work for those ready for marriage and compromise. The MAFS experience itself is eight weeks long for the couples, and the honeymoon and living together portion of the show leads up to Decision Day, where the pairs choose whether to stay married or get a divorce. One or two Reunion specials air after that, followed by a "Where Are They Now?" episode. The show has been massively popular in the past, but it's losing its edge due to a few disparaging elements.

The MAFS Experts Keep Failing

They can't get it right.

Dr. Pepper Schwarts joined Married at First Sight as an expert in season 1, Pastor Cal Roberson joined in season 4, and Dr. Pia Holec is in her third season. The experts are tasked with selecting the pairs to be matched together, and they are meant to take the participants' non-negotiables, and physical appearance and lifestyle preferences into account when matching people. Furthermore, the experts are supposed to guide the couples through the eight-week process by offering them solution-based counseling and determining how they can help the couples progress in their marriages.

The experts have clearly fallen short. They have been criticized by MAFS fans for being unskilled and wreckless when matchmaking, and they've admittedly dropped the ball in their approach and initiative to matching the couples. Specifically last season, Dr. Pia demonstrated her inability to be effective when she was counseling Brennan Shoykhet and Emily Balch. Dr. Pia came for Brennan and was combative toward him, saying that he needed therapy (via Lifetime .) The interaction only proved to cause a bigger divide between Brennan and Emily and is a good example of the poor level of counseling the couples have received.

Married at First Sight needs to overhaul the experts because fans have been watching them fail for too long. Unfortunately, the same panel of experts will be back for Married at First Sight season 18 , but there is a lot for them to prove. Should they see more success, one or all of the experts could continue on into future seasons, but it would be better for the franchise to get fresh experts with new perspectives and strengths.

MAFS Has Let Toxic Cast Members Get Married

Which has marred mafs' reputation.

Another strike against Married at First Sight is that they have let shady people make it through the casting process and onto the show . Several cast members like Chris Williams and Clare Kerr have had past relationships affect their ability to be present on the show. Chris had gotten a woman pregnant before coming on the show but chose to stay with his MAFS wife Paige Banks and work things out with his ex off-camera. MAFS season 2's Ryan Denino had clear and present anger issues on the show and even had a verbally aggressive hot mic moment.

Other cast members, like Luke Cuccurullo, were ruthless in their negative opinions about their partner and displayed problematic behavior that should have been noticed before they were matched. Alyssa Ellman from season 14 in Boston had a very rigid idea of what she wanted her husband to look like, and when she didn't get that, she freaked out. Her shallowness should have been noticed by the experts before she broke Chris Collette's heart in the fastest MAFS divorce in history.

Hit reality TV shows like 90 Day Fiancé have notoriously let shady characters slip through the application process and be cast on the show. Like Before the 90 Days' Geoffrey Paschel, who was convicted of kidnapping and brutally assaulting his girlfriend at the time mere weeks before he was flying to Russia to meet his online Before the 90 Days love interest, Varya Malina.

However, that kind of poor and irresponsible cast is damaging to a show's reputation, as it has been for Married at First Sight and its credibility.

The MAFS Seasons Are Too Long

They drag on for months.

MAFS season 17 was the longest season yet, having premiered in October 2023 and ended in April 2024. The show was almost on the Lifetime network for six months, and fans grew tired of the same couples and drama, especially since many of the couples broke up way early in the process. The show should shorten its seasons to include only the most notable and entertaining drama , so fans don't get lost with all the unnecessary filler.

The MAFS Couples Share A Temporary Apartment

It didn't used to be that way.

Up until MAFS season 9, the couples had to choose their own apartment themselves. These days, the couples move into a predetermined neutral living space in the same building as the other couples where it is easy for them to go back to their own homes when things go awry. Having to get their own apartment meant an initial real-life obstacle the pairs had to overcome, and it was a good learning curve.

The couples now get handed apartments and don't have to work together on anything significant aside from getting to know each other, which takes away an important element.

The MAFS Couples Mingle Together Too Much

There should be more separation.

In earlier seasons, the Married at First Sight couples did not have to get together and mingle for social gatherings or group activities. Instead, they focused on building their relationships. Now, the couples seem to get together in every episode, and there has been cast drama because of it. In the intermingling of the couples, the focus of the experience gets lost and leaves more room for influencing and negative judgment for everyone. If Married at First Sight can find ways to improve or compromise in these areas, the show's quality and success rate could become better.

Married at First Sight seasons 1-17 are available on Amazon.

Source: Lifetime /YouTube

Married At First Sight

Based on the Danish version of the series, Married at First Sight is a reality show/social experiment that gives singles a chance to find a lifelong partnership with one particular caveat: they must agree to marry a stranger arranged the moment they meet. Experts provide counseling and guidance as they help couples navigate their new marriage with their unknown partner and highlight the journey of the newlyweds from wedding to honeymoon to beginning their new lives together. At the end of eight weeks, couples will decide to stay married or divorce.

‘Sorry/Not Sorry’ Review: Louis C.K. Is Ready to Forgive Himself. Are We?

A New York Times documentary traces how the comedian's actions were shielded by the comedy world, and it asks key questions about his return.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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The title of “ Sorry/Not Sorry ,” a documentary about the Louis C.K. scandal, makes the film sound like a hot-button exposé with the potential to be as controversial as the case itself. The offscreen infamy of Louis C.K. — his coercive and abusive ritual of masturbating in front of women, many of whom were his comedian colleagues — was first revealed in the mainstream media nearly seven years ago, amid the tidal wave of reckoning that became #MeToo. I thought: Is the film going to be about how Louis C.K. is now sorry…and not sorry? And what point-of-view will the documentary take?

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“Louie,” on FX, was greeted as the second coming, but to me it was the weekly version of an “edgy” indie film that had stray nuggets of squirm-factor hilarity but insisted, in every episode, on breaking up what was best about it — its air of authenticity — with overstatement and contrivance. It annoyingly straddled the line between prickly reality and sitcom fakery. If it had been an indie film, it would have come and gone without fanfare. But on the small screen, the show somehow passed as Revolutionary Popular Art.

I’m generally a staunch advocate of separating the art from the artist. Yet part of what came into focus after the Louis C.K. scandal is that in my (admittedly minority) opinion, the reason he struck me as a gifted but limited comedian was not because he wasn’t a smart and funny man, but because his view of the universe was so blinkered. I remember seeing him do a routine about getting ready to go on vacation with his family, and he describes walking around the van feeling something like: This is the last moment of pleasure and freedom I’m going to have for a week. I can get as impatient with my family as anyone, but I thought: Really?! You don’t even like going on vacation with them? I’m sorry, that’s not a “typical” inside-the-mind-of-a-bro-geek reaction — it’s warped. It’s the thought of someone who isn’t happy in his own skin. And I thought: It’s absurd that he’s generalizing from that. Louis C.K. always comes on like he’s touching universal chords in the tradition of Richard Pryor and George Carlin, but really he’s unpacking a distorted POV.

No question, though: He had talent, he pushed the envelope, and he wrapped his observations in a confessional aura that often had more resonance than what he was actually confessing. He became the superstar of angry brainy white-guy angst, and he knew that his superstardom protected him. After the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, there was much discussion of who knew what and when they knew it, and while it was obvious that Weinstein had been shielded for years by those around him, and by the whole entertainment industry, I do believe that relatively few people knew the horrific extent of his crimes.

In the case of Louis C.K., his transgressions were far less extreme, but as the documentary reveals, they were incredibly widely known. The incident that became iconic occurred at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 2002, when C.K. invited two comedians, Dana Goodman and Julia Wolov, to his hotel room and, once there, asked if he could take his penis out, which they first thought was a joke. They gave no consent. He got undressed and masturbated, and they were horrified and felt paralyzed. They finally fled, and he called out afterward, “Which one is Dana and which one is Julia?” That’s actually a significant line, since it’s a “comic” expression of the dehumanization his compulsive ritual was really about.

It all exploded, thanks to the work of Times reporters Jodi Kantor, Cara Buckley, and Melena Ryzik. But that was headline news. The film deals most intriguingly with C.K.’s incendiary, semi-under-the-radar return to the comedy world. He was able to do it by working independently, sidestepping the corporate apparatus of the networks and studios (who never invited him back). “Sorry/Not Sorry” meditates, intelligently, on the question of how the culture should deal with someone like Louis C.K. Michael Ian Black, the pensive comedian who started a controversial tweet thread about it, says, “I was like, I’m not defending Louis’s actions. I’m having, in public, a conversation that I feel like men are having in private — and women — all over this country, and saying, ‘How do we deal with this? How do we welcome people back or not welcome people back?'”

The Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris suggests, quite rightly, that Louis C.K. should have done a reckoning. Instead, C.K. treated what happened to him as simply the “outing” of his fetish, his obsession, and while he admitted that it was embarrassing, what he said to his audience (this is from a stand-up clip we see) is, “You all have your thing. I don’t know what your thing is….’Cause everybody knows my thing.” As if that’s the only thing that defines it — that it all became public. Louis C.K.’s “problem” is that he did something very wrong, but as “Sorry/Not Sorry” reveals, part of his problem is that he still has no idea why it’s wrong. I’m sorry, but that’s not someone squeezing comedy out of truth.

Reviewed online, July 11, 2024. Running time: 90 MIN.

• Production: A Greenwich Entertainment release of a New York Times production. Producers: Caroline Suh, Cara Mones. Executive producers: Sam Dolnick, Jason Stallman, Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver.
• Crew: Directors: Caroline Suh, Cara Mones. Camera: Bob Richman. Editor: Peter Holmes. Music: Kyle Scott Wilson.
• With: Louis C.K., Jen Kirkman, Abby Schachner, Megan Koester, Michael Ian Black, Michael Schur, Alison Herman, Jesse David Fox, Jodi Kantor, Cara Buckley, Melena Ryzik, Wesley Morris.

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Movie Reviews

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“Istanbul is a place…where people come to disappear.” This is the sad conclusion arrived at by late in this moving film by one of its principal characters, Lia, a stern-faced older woman who has crossed over into the Turkish capital from the Black Sea’s Batumi, a desolate-looking spot in Georgia. A retired school teacher, she has left her home after making a promise to her now-dead sister. The promise was to find that woman’s child, who’s living in Turkey. All Lia has to go on is a name, and the fact that the now-adult child is transgender.

The movie, written and directed by Levan Akin , begins in the messy, tumultuous house where Achi, a young man who’s for all intents and purposes still a boy, lives miserably under the thumb of his older brother. Lia happens by the house, is recognized by one of its residents, and on the spot Achi concocts a tale, saying he knows the niece, Tekla, and has an address for her. He attaches himself to Lia, who accepts his company reluctantly, and soon they’re off, settling awkwardly in cheap lodgings and combing the poorer areas of Istanbul with not much to go on but hope.

The two actors who play Lia and Achi, Mzia Arabuli and Lucas Kankava , are marvels. Kankava has a wide-open face that registers Achi’s boundless naivete, which is always there no matter how cocky or obdurate he makes himself. Arabuli’s own expression as Lia is often pinched, but as time wears on her, and as she starts to let herself go in a “what the hell” sort of way — she likes to dip into a bottle of a fermented drink called “chacha,” a habit she initially tries to hide from Achi — a pained vulnerability makes itself felt. These are two lost souls who make an unlikely temporary fishbowl for themselves, far from homes they may never return to.

On one of their ferry rides, Akin’s camera makes a graceful camera move away from the anxious Lia and Achi and settles on the more content-in-the-moment face of a trans woman, whose story the movie then picks up. This is not, as is soon made clear, Tekla. The character’s name is Evrim, and she’s a woman who’s found a purpose. Near to completing a law degree, she works for a trans rights NGO that also looks into various cases in poorer neighborhoods; at one point we see her springing a young boy and his younger sister, who act on the peripheries of the movie’s central story threads, from jail. She’s confident and compassionate, enjoys a fairly robust sex life, but she’s subject to condescension — at best — from the various authority figures she’s obliged to deal with. Deniz Dumanli’s portrayal of the character is extraordinary, grounded, vanity-free.

Lia and Achi’s story will intersect with Evrim’s, but not right away. Akin is here working in a tradition established in Italian Neo-realism — and by the end of the film, he shows he can turn on the viewer’s tear ducts as deftly as De Sica did in his prime — but his narrative approach brings a vivid freshness to the proceedings. The camerawork he concocts with cinematographer Lisabi Fridell , often shooting through windows and doorways, often gives the viewer a “fly on the wall” feeling, but never becomes voyeuristic. It invites empathy, not titillation. And the movie’s portrait of Istanbul — roiling, unglamorous, and yes, packed with stray cats — makes the city a character in and of itself.

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Crossing (2024)

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Review: ‘Crossing’ is a journey into empathy for those in transition, in several senses

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We know what typically happens in movies when characters go looking for missing loved ones. Surprise — they find themselves. End of quest. But something more nuanced emerges regarding our internal compasses in filmmaker Levan Akin ’s “Crossing,” about a retired Georgian schoolteacher trying to track down her transgender niece in Istanbul. It’s what gives this compassionate, cautiously hopeful movie’s open-eyed naturalism a wonderful, pulsating humanity.

Grim-faced, dignified Lia (Mzia Arabuli) doesn’t have much information to go on, only the hearsay of a young, restless operator named Achi (Lucas Kankava), who tells her that her niece Tekla, whom he knew as a local prostitute in their Black Sea port city of Batumi, has likely decamped to one country over. Reluctantly adopting the cocksure Achi as translator and companion — his border excursions with tourists have given him a smattering of Turkish and English (plus Achi wants out of Georgia) — Lia sets off with stoic determination. The question curling the edges of this search, however, is whether Tekla even wants to be found.

Because what’s also clear, and bracingly so in Akin’s thick-of-it depiction, is that massively populated Istanbul makes disappearing easy. One person’s acute sense of absence is for another, perhaps, an opportunity to blend in, as evidenced by the trans neighborhood Lia and Achi encounter, with sex workers popping their heads out of apartment windows to assess these visitors, like some colorful urban advent calendar. The atmosphere simultaneously projects wariness, vivacity and community.

At great risk, he continues to make queer films in a country he still loves

Director Levan Akin had to be resourceful to make his breakthrough film, ‘And Then We Danced.’ His new drama, ‘Crossing,’ also required savvy.

July 19, 2024

Akin, a Swedish filmmaker whose family originally hails from Georgia, knows this is a story tinged with sadness for lives that have been ostracized and marginalized. But his wider view starts from a place of optimism about what curiosity engenders. The first long, calmly fluid shot in “Crossing,” after the edgily comic vibe of the early minutes, comes when Lia and Achi board one of Istanbul’s intercity ferries, and cinematographer Lisabi Fridell’s camera leaves our mismatched duo to roam the decks so we can feel the peaceful spirit of lives in transit: tea being served, passengers talking, a boy plucking a stringed bağlama as the water rushes by.

It’s a graceful segue for a movie about going somewhere, letting a trip open you up. The sequence alights on the movie’s other significant figure on that ferry, Evrim (Deniz Dumanli), a trans woman lawyer working for an NGO. The movie’s most aspirational character, she meets struggle (like the bureaucracy of getting hospital administrators to sign off on her identity) with friendly poise, finding romance with a kind-eyed cab driver. In crossing paths with Lia and Achi, Evrim knows how to help.

“Crossing” begins with a hard-edged woman trying to bridge a terrible distance, yet it’s measured in incremental expressions of closeness everywhere, across generations, among strangers and between everyone we meet and their possible futures. (Even a street cat plays its connective part.) Whether we’re in daytime or night, there always seems to be a light bathing someone’s face or beckoning them, a visual touch I came to appreciate in a movie that could so easily have taken a more despairing route considering its gritty backdrop.

Akin’s prior film, the queer-themed Tbilisi-set character study “And Then We Danced,” showed how tender his approach to LGBTQI+ stories is, keeping sentimentality at bay while foraging for well-earned smiles. And if you’ve seen that film, which criticized the homophobic strictures of traditional Georgian dance as it celebrated the form’s manifestation of joy, you won’t be surprised that “Crossing” also finds time to bring its pair of weary Georgians to their feet. Lia may not technically be looking for her niece on a restaurant’s dance floor, but as Arabuli’s exquisitely turned, gently cracking performance shows, the life she exhibits is its own discovery.

'Crossing'

Not rated In Georgian, Turkish and English, with subtitles Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes Playing: Opens Friday, July 19 at Laemmle Royal, West Angeles

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‘Join or Die’ Review: Come Together

This documentary about the work of Robert Putnam, who wrote “Bowling Alone,” argues that Americans can save democracy by becoming joiners.

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By Natalia Winkelman

In the wake of the 2016 election, a new type of film briefly emerged: the liberal “how did we get here” documentary. It doled out insights, and visited with “ordinary” folks across the country to take the temperature of the political divide.

“Join or Die,” directed by the siblings Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis, recalls those postelection films. Narrated by Pete and essentially framed as a plea to save the United States, it centers on the work of Robert Putnam, an academic who has dedicated his life to arguing that American civic engagement is in decline. Putnam articulated his thesis in “Bowling Alone,” first published as an article, and then in 2000 as a book.

Putnam is Pete’s former professor, and the directors dedicate most of their running time to laying out the author’s queries, methods and findings while supporting them visually with montages and engaging collagelike animation. Throughout, the film unabashedly adopts Putnam’s doctrine: Become a joiner or democracy is doomed.

Some of the film’s points feel simplistic, and questions linger. (I expect they would be answered by reading “Bowling Alone” rather than watching a movie about it.) The film also breaks up its Putnam biography by spending time with a handful of Americans who benefit from local communities — but these mini-profiles are too brief to resonate. Better to hew close to Putnam, whom the film regards with a deferential but congenial attitude.

Join or Die Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. In theaters.

A summary that ran with an earlier version of this review misstated the title of Robert Putnam’s book. It is “Bowling Alone,” not “Bowling Together.”

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