Relationship Goals Parent Guide

Leah (Kelly Rowland) is living her dream. She is a senior producer on a morning talk show, poised to be promoted to showrunner. That is, until the network decides that there should be some competition for the role, so they bring in Jarrett (Cliff “Method Man” Smith), a veteran of the evening talk show world who just happens to be Leah’s cheating ex-boyfriend. Despite Leah’s anger over his past mistakes, Jarrett claims to be a changed man, thanks to the book “Relationship Goals” by Michael Todd. 

Though Leah is unconvinced by Jarrett’s seemingly altered character, her two best friends Brenda (Robin Thede) and Treese (Annie Gonzalez) decide to give the book a try and each find direction they didn’t know they needed in its pages. But as Leah puts everything she has into beating Jarrett for the job, she starts to wonder if there’s something her life is missing. 

Do you want to watch a 90-minute advertisement? What about an ad for a “self-help” book written by mega-church pastor Michael Todd? Do you want to be fed an infomercial in lieu of genuine entertainment? Of course you don’t but apparently the powers that be at Amazon have no idea what constitutes an appealing film. This production is nothing more than a pathetic money grab and every slimy inch of it won’t let you forget it. I felt dirty watching this film and I don’t think a shower is going to fix it. 

A better title for this film would have been “Mansplaining: The Movie” because that covers most of the content. Jarrett is the most smug, disrespectful, condescending leading man I’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing portrayed on screen. The only reason Leah ends up with him in the end (this isn’t a real spoiler given the genre) is because one of the messages of the story is that women need to lower their standards or else they’ll never get married, which is the worst thing that could happen to a woman. This film portrays and celebrates toxic relationship dynamics and misogynistic worldviews mixed in with a bunch of Christian buzzwords. Theology is of course a very personal thing, but I think most Christians would see this movie as an insult to their religion. 

I am viscerally angry that this movie exists. It is deeply offensive and watching Relationship Goals feels like being fed propaganda with an R&B soundtrack. Even the minimal level of negative content doesn’t make me feel better about this film. I am deeply concerned about how this script operates on a systemic level to manipulate audiences seeking faith-based media into absorbing toxic ideologies. At the movie’s start I felt bad for Kelly Rowland because whoever was in charge of her hair did her no favors, but now I think that hairstylist deserves an award for malicious compliance in the face of this morally corrupt production. 

About author

Savannah Sillito

Savannah Sillito is a librarian with a master's in library science, a bachelor's degree in English, and a certificate in early childhood education. She enjoys nonfiction books, travel, and is a staunch proponent of the Oxford comma.