Happy Single is a new romantic comedy directed by Anna van Keimpema. This is her cinema film directorial debut, before which she has only directed TV films and series.
Psychologist Mollie (Jamie Grant), is more of a playful lady, who after a date does not see her companion again the next day. If she is in such a situation again with Otis (Juvat Westendorp), she does not expect to see him again in her life.
When she sees Otis back at work the next day, as her new colleague, everything suddenly becomes very uncomfortable. Now that they cannot escape each other as colleagues, Mollie has to think of other things. Even though she tries to avoid Otis, she still finds her feelings for him starting to grow, even though it goes against her own rules.
For a film entitled Happy Single, the story goes somewhat against the title. The main character is more into nocturnal flirting and she keeps trying to hook a man for a one-night stand instead of leading a happy single life. The fact that Mollie and her other colleagues work at a psychologist's practice does not really seem credible. For psychologists, most practices struggle too much with their own problems to really help their clients. Furthermore, as colleagues, they also go out for drinks with each other more often than they actually do helpful work.
The script was written by a writer who has never written an independent film script before. This can be seen in this film through the many coincidences and clichés that happen in the film. This also keeps the film more on a predictable side and most comedic moments come across as awkward rather than really funny.
For Jamie Grant, this is also one of the films in which she plays the leading role in a long time. This can sometimes be seen in her when, for example, she seems to simply read her texts. Unfortunately, her first independently written script doesn't help her much either. Juvat Westendorp has continued to act more in his career, which is reflected in his acting in this film. Unfortunately, he also has to work with a lesser script. The rest of the cast members sometimes come across more like characters from a cartoon because of the actions they do things, or react to somewhere.
