Camila Mendes’ New Amazon Rom-Com Is A Reminder To Watch Her 4-Year-Old Movie With 94% On Rotten Tomatoes

Summary Camila Mendes shines in rom-com hits like Musica & Palm Springs, both receiving acclaim for their quality and performances.

Musica stands out with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, showcasing Mendes' ability to choose successful romantic comedy roles.

Mendes' impressive streak of acclaimed movies since Palm Springs sets a high standard for her upcoming projects.

Camila Mendes has another hit rom-com on her resume with Amazon’s Musica, which provides a great reminder to revisit her celebrated genre movie from 2020. After rising to prominence for her role as Veronica in the main cast of Riverdale, Mendes has continued to find a successful niche within the romantic comedy genre, which includes various streaming hits on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Hulu. Though rom-coms often yield mixed results with critics and audiences, even if they prove to be popular viewing-wise, Mendes has reliably starred in movies of this genre that receive acclaim and praise for their quality.

This is certainly the case for Camila Mendes’ acclaimed new rom-com Musica, which holds an impressive 97% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The Amazon Original movie follows Rudy (Rudy Mancuso), a young creative with synesthesia, as he navigates life and love after college, which becomes more complex upon meeting Isabella (Mendes). Musica’s reviews include high praise for the rawness of the story, fresh direction, and lead performances by Mancuso and Mendes, adding another great entry into the unpredictable genre. With Musica being another hit for Mendes, her critically acclaimed rom-com from 2020 provides a great follow-up watch, as it kicked off her success streak in the genre.

Related Musica 2024 Ending Explained The 2024 coming-of-age romantic comedy Música stars Rudy Mancuso as a young man with synesthesia trying to figure out his future after college.

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Camila Mendes' 2020 Movie Palm Springs Is Her Second Highest-Rated Rom-Com After Musica

Palm Springs boasts a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes

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While Musica now stands as Camila Mendes’ highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes, the close runner-up is Palm Springs, which debuted on Hulu on 2020. Palm Springs holds a fantastic “Certified Fresh” 94% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with both critics and audiences enjoying the refreshing rom-com from Max Barbakow. Though the film received plenty of comparisons to Bill Murray’s 1993 classic Groundhog Day due to its sci-fi rom-com blend with a time-loop movie premise, the humor and chemistry between the leads firmly established it as one of the best romantic comedies of the past decade.

Camila Mendes Movie Title Character Rotten Tomatoes Score The New Romantic (2018) Morgan 61% The Perfect Date (2019) Shelby 68% Coyote Lake (2019) Ester 83% Dangerous Lies (2020) Katie 23% Palm Springs (2020) Tala 94% Do Revenge (2022) Drea 84% Upgraded (2024) Ana 77% Musica (2024) Isabella 97%

Unlike Musica, however, Camila Mendes doesn’t have the leading female role in Palm Springs’ cast, as that part is assumed by How I Met Your Mother’s Cristin Milioti. Rather, Camila Mendes plays the supporting role of Milioti’s sister, Tala, who has a simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming narrative as the bride at Palm Springs’ central wedding. Though Andy Samberg’s Nyles and Milioti’s Sarah are at the forefront of Palm Springs’ romantic comedy tale, Mendes still shines as one of the movie’s most integral supporting characters.

Though Andy Samberg’s Nyles and Milioti’s Sarah are at the forefront of Palm Springs’ romantic comedy tale, Mendes still shines as one of the movie’s most integral supporting characters

Palm Springs Began An Incredible 4-Movie Run For Camila Mendes

Camila Mendes' movies have all been critically acclaimed since Palm Springs

image via Prime Video

Camila Mendes’ impressive streak of critically acclaimed movies kicked off with Palm Springs in 2020. Following Palm Springs, Mendes has starred in Do Revenge, Upgraded, and, now, Musica, all of which boast great reviews from critics. Do Revenge hit Netflix in fall 2022 as a black comedy that is loosely based on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 movie Strangers on a Train, with the film inspiring plenty of viral moments for its hilarious screenplay and homages to 1990s-era teen comedies. The Netflix original movie has an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with plenty of praise directed at Mendes and her co-star Maya Hawke.

Following Do Revenge, Mendes starred in the main cast of the Amazon rom-com Upgraded, which hit Prime Video shortly before Valentine’s Day in February 2024. Serving as an updated spin on the classic story of Cinderella, Upgraded received mostly positive reviews from critics, holding a 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Upgraded, of course, was then directly followed by Amazon’s Musica, which now boasts Mendes’ highest score on the review aggregator site. Beginning with Palm Springs, Mendes has certainly experienced a critically acclaimed movie streak that many would envy.

Beginning with Palm Springs, Mendes has certainly experienced a critically acclaimed movie streak that many would envy.

Though her filmography from Palm Springs through Musica creates a high standard for Mendes’ upcoming movies to maintain, her films and TV shows from before the 2020 rom-com make this seem achievable. On Rotten Tomatoes, Mendes only has one project that earned a “rotten” score, as her 2020 psychological thriller Dangerous Lies holds a 23% rating. However, her prior movies Coyote Lake (2019), The Perfect Date (2019), and The New Romantic (2018) each boast positive scores of 83%, 68%, and 61%, respectively. Furthermore, her 2023-ending TV show Riverdale possesses an overall score of 81% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Palm Springs Should Have Been Way Bigger Upon Release In 2020

Palm Springs' streaming release set records, but should have had a longer life

While Palm Springs is still considered one of the greatest recent rom-coms, it could have had a much longer shelf-life if it had been released in theaters rather than on Hulu. As a summer-set rom-com, it provided the perfect experience for summer blockbuster fare, which had the potential for longer success in theaters. However, in addition to being a streaming-exclusive release, Palm Springs debuted early into the COVID-19 pandemic when theaters were widely shut down worldwide. Consequently, Palm Springs still would have been hindered by an unfortunate release time had it elected for a theatrical window.

Related 15 Best Hulu Original Movies To Stream Now Hulu's best original films include sci-fi hits like Prey, great rom-coms like Happiest Season, and indie movies like Rye Lane.

Palm Springs’ streaming availability still helped it gain great viewership numbers in the summer of 2020, as it set records for opening weekend ratings on Hulu. Still, it’s hard not to imagine how much of a longer impact Palm Springs may have had culturally had it been released at a more fortuitous time in theaters. The 2023 box office hit Anyone but You proved similar rom-coms can still achieve great box office success with more longevity in the cultural conscious, and Palm Springs’ critical and streaming success indicates it had the potential for a similar impact, potentially elevating the stardom of Musica’s Camila Mendes and her co-stars even further.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes