One of the most embarrassing aspects of my quarantine-self was my hyper-fixation on the TikTok content houses. Like other teenagers at the time, I spent most of my day refreshing my “For You” page trying to see a new video from the influencers in those houses — one of them being Noah Beck. 

Having kept up with the 23-year-old social media star, I was shocked when I saw he had been cast in his first movie: a Wattpad adaptation of “Sidelined: The QB Bad Boy and Me” by Tay Marley. I was skeptical about the quality of the movie, as the only acting I had ever seen Beck do was his 15-second videos .  

Released on Nov. 29, “Sidelined: The QB and Me” has been another installation in the resurgence of rom-coms. The one-hour-40-minute film is set in a fictional small town where Drayton Lahey (Beck), the star quarterback of Archwood High School crashes into dancer and cheerleader Dallas Bryan’s (Siena Agudong) life — literally. Over the course of their senior year, the two experience the highs and lows of a teenage relationship.

What I most appreciated about the film was its attention to subplots that existed alongside the main characters’ romance. The story follows Drayton’s struggle committing to a university; he is forced to balance his father’s wishes of committing to “Waco” as a “quadruple-legacy” or pursuing what he believes to be best for him – exploring other options. Simultaneously, Dallas is having trouble displaying her emotion through her dance as she works on her audition for CalArts, the alma mater of her mother, who passed away when Dallas was a young child. 

Both Beck and Agudong blew me away in all facets of their acting. Whether it is the cheesy romantic in me or their talent on screen, I can’t stop thinking about the movie. While I am neither a star quarterback nor a dancer, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of relatability wash over me as the leads showed their individual struggles as seniors. They perfectly recreated what my ideal senior year looks like, reminding me of “High School Musical.” There were times when the movie felt like it was trying too hard to emulate the iconic Disney film, but those moments were overshadowed by the rest of the film. 

This movie made me feel all the emotions: when I wasn’t laughing at the flirtatious banter between Drayton and Dallas, I was tearing up at the mention of Drayton’s sister or Dallas’s parents. There were so many different dynamics this film had to capture, and it did them all extremely well. It was evident that the core cast had a level of chemistry not found in other projects, especially in the major ensemble scene that occurs in the middle of the movie. 

This couple felt like the next generation of Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean from the “To All The Boys” series, and I really hope we get another movie starring the two. I’ve just begun to fall in love with the characters, and I’m not ready for them to be “Sidelined.”