We Tried Our Best to Not Choose Love in Netflix's Interactive Rom-Com

Rom-coms can be more fun when there’s someone to root for, whether it’s one of many suitors, a central couple who is going through it, or a protagonist who just needs to find out what they really want. Choose Love, the interactive rom-com that hit Netflix on August 31, not only creates the possibility for viewers to do all three, but also lets them make essential choices to ensure they get the ending they want.

The film follows Cami (Laura Marano) as she tries to pursue her career as an audio producer and musician while also juggling three men vying for her affection: her boyfriend Paul (Scott Michael Foster), high school sweetheart Jack (Jordi Webber), and rock star client Rex (Avan Jogia). The choices are laid out to her by a tarot card reader who warns that even the smallest decisions can change the course of her future forever. It’s difficult to know exactly who to choose, not because they’re all so dreamy and wonderful, but because none of the men bring that much to the table. Staying with the stable boyfriend? Boring. Getting together with the musician? Cliché. Going back to the ex? Regressive. The best option is for Cami to end up alone and focused on her future, so what key choices need to be made to get there?

Choose Love doesn’t make it easy. The entire film can be split into pre-dream and post-dream: pre-dream, it basically doesn’t matter what choices are made, and that’s why there are so many small options, like deciding whether Cami should take it easy on her sister while at a game night or be ruthless and go for the win. Even the seemingly bigger decisions are essentially inconsequential. Whether or not Cami goes on a lunch date with Jack or decides to record with Rex, or even tell Paul about her unresolved feelings for these other men, her dream about all three men puts viewers in the exact same position every time: simply choose one of the three men.

In that moment, it certainly seems like Cami getting paired up with someone is inevitable. But post-dream is where the important decisions are made. Choosing Paul leads to the same path every time: ending up with Paul. Choosing Jack or Rex can lead Cami back to any of the men (they’re just popping up around every corner), but they are also the keys to Cami’s independence. Without Paul tying her down, it’s easy enough for her to leave either of these men behind, and even in that choice there’s a path that best sets her up for success and feels like the ending the movie’s been pushing all along.

If Cami chooses Rex, that means choosing an opportunity to perform with him — one song with him will catapult her career. The essential choice comes after the performance when he asks Cami to travel the world with him. Say yes, and the movie wraps up with a smooch next to the Eiffel Tower. Say no, and Cami ends up at a slot machine next to the tarot card reader who first laid out her choices to her, about to win big. It’s not only the ending that feels the most complete, bookending the film’s introduction, but it also makes the most sense for the character. No matter what choices the viewer makes throughout the film, it always comes back to Cami following her dream of being a singer.

What makes each man appealing (supposedly) is their willingness to support Cami throughout her career and empower her to do whatever she wants. They just don’t seem to realize that they are the ones holding her back. Still, the alternate endings with those men are all set up to be happy ones — it is a rom-com, after all. But it’s nice to know that in at least one version of this film, choosing love means choosing yourself.

Choose Love is streaming on Netflix.

Brianna Wellen is a TV Reporter at Primetimer who became obsessed with television when her parents let her stay up late to watch E.R.