Shaw Landon has loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule, a fiery-tempered rebel tattoo artist, doesn’t have time for a good girl pre-med student like Shaw — even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule must figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.
Chase Stokes
Rule Archer
Sydney Taylor
Shaw Landon
Ella Balinska
Ayden Cross
Evan Mock
Jet Teller
Alexander Ludwig
Rome Archer
Natalie Alyn Lind
Cora Lewis
Matthew Noszka
Nash Donavan
Hannah Kepple
Loren
Daisy Jelley
Sierra
Michael Bradway
Gabe Davenport
Adam Abbou
Jasper Brown
Inanna Sarkis
Jordynn
Paul Johansson
Dale Archer
Tonya Cornelisse
Madelyn Archer
Nancy De Mayo
Eleanor Landon
Dajana Gudic
Dania
Anton Poriazov
Bunny
Anastasia Zhovtodid
Young Girl Tattoo Client
Manal El-Feitury
Jasper's Mom
Jennifer Gibgot
Wealthy Woman
Filip Bukov
Joey
Sreb Noeva
Secretary
George Cottam
Orlando
Michael Fleming
Pastor
Zeid Salamen
Tattoo Shop Dude
Ghaith Mansour
Skeet (uncredited)
Director
Nick Cassavetes
Novel
Jay Crownover
Writer
Sharon Soboil
February 13, 2025
5
I suppose it’s my own fault but when I saw this I thought it might be a gangster thriller. Nope, it’s about the on-off relationship between tattoo artist “Rule” (Chase Stokes) and his friend “Shaw” (Sydney Taylor). She used to date his brother “Remy” but we quickly learn that he was involved in a car accident with his brother and so now we have our requisite dose of family baggage to explain why “Rule” is a bit of a commitment-phobe. Meantime, she is supposed to be dating millionaire drip “Gabe” (Michael Bradway) to keep her rather wealthy but venal mother sweet, but in the end it’s her bit of rough that she really craves. Can they sort things out and get past his fear of being called her boyfriend? There’s the odd bit of sensitively photographed sex and it does pay slight homage to the artistry of some creative tattooists but for the most part it’s a weakly constructed romantic will they/won’t they drama that didn’t really engage me at all. There is plenty of eye-candy on offer, including from the sparingly used, wooden as a picket fence, Alexander Ludwig as his elder brother “Rome” and Ella Balinska tries to inject a little bit of life into things as her best pal “Ayden” but neither Stokes nor Taylor do anything like enough with the, admittedly pedestrian, script or the story to bring this to life. Quite how it got a general release in the UK is, as Yul Brynner might have said, “a puzzlement “. It looks good and there are a few power ballads to help it along, but it’s really just a mediocre television movie, sorry.