In the movie itself: happy dog moments only! .........In the bonus material, however, there's a clip of Taylor (Alex) giving us a tour of the Oval Office set, and he shows us a framed photo of his dog who he mentions had died during filming.
OH YES. That particular sequence starts when they're in their swimsuits and Henry sits up and looks away. There's sad music, sad feelings, unanswered phone calls, and then some drama.
Yes. Specifically an emotionally manipulative denial when confronted with wrongdoing. I'm just going to drop a big (SPOILERS) tag and then go off. Alex is betrayed by his reporter friend Miguel, who flatters him into distractedly giving information he shouldn't have ("Yeah we're uh, gonna flip Texas") and then uses it for an article. Alex confronts Miguel at the DNC hotel bar. Miguel dodges the facts and twists Alex's words into how it wasn't a betrayal because his intentions were to HELP Alex. Perhaps even the viewer is hesitating at this point. And then of course Miguel goes on to betray Alex even worse next time.
Henry's grandfather does some things that could be read as abusive, but it's made clear that he loves his grandson and thinks he is protecting him and doing right by the British people. Henry and Bea's devices are temporarily taken away and the king tries to insist on a course of action that he knows hurts his grandson.
Alex has the character trait of "uses alcohol to cope with social anxiety." On one occasion this causes a major incident, and on another occasion he jokes "I've been drunk since (a week ago) so catch up!"
There's a closeup of a turkey in a pet crate looking vaguely agitated as Alex explains to Henry over the phone how the turkey was going to be kept in a luxury hotel suite but it was decided that he would stay in Alex's room instead. We hear restless turkey noises after Alex hangs up the phone. (The only other instances of animals in the movie are horses during a polo match who seemed fine and Henry's dog, David, overjoyed to see him return from a trip.)
Not in the movie itself, but in the bonus material, there's a clip of Taylor (Alex) giving us a tour of the Oval Office set, he shows us a framed photo of his dog who he mentions had died during filming.
Worth mentioning that someone gets "romance novel kissed" i.e. suddenly and without knowledge that he'd welcome it, but it turns out very fine. (Sidenote: This is acknowledged and apologized for!)
No, but there's a moment that could very easily be interpreted as Henry accidentally getting kneed there. (When they hide in the supply closet, there's a lot of initial comedic scrambling and a stereotypical "thump/aghh!" type moment, but I've watched the movie six times, and.....I'm pretty sure he's grabbing at his lower thigh instead.)
No. There's an emotional "run into each others arms" moment where they meet partway up a staircase, but nobody falls, they just gently sit down on the steps together. Also worth mentioning there's an offhand joke about a member of the royal family being at risk of assassination by being pushed down the stairs.
Not in the film itself. There's a moment in the blooper reel where somebody makes a realistic sounding fart noise (blowing a raspberry) during an intimate scene as a prank.
Not really. There's a moment near the end of the movie where a character realizes he's being confined to his home with cell phones and laptops confiscated. This fear and peril quickly tapers off, however. Our Heroes (TM) repeatedly push at these boundaries and find that there's no scary consequences whatsoever.
In a line played for laughs, a secret service agent implies that she used excessive force on a child to the point of him needing medical attention. (He had accidentally caused a security lockdown by bringing fireworks to cheer up his friend in the hospital)
Trans positive moments only! (1) A character who is trans in the book is played by a trans actress. (2) Alex's dad proudly reminds him that he is "the patron saint of gender neutral bathrooms in Austin" and (3) Alex's mom gives an uplifting speech where she gives a shoutout to trans high school students in the deep south voting for the first time.
A very very expensive wedding cake is destroyed in a comedic context and then talked about for a while, also in a comedic context. Then during the credits, there's a brief blooper/extended scene showing characters covered in cake again.
There's a single sentence of someone mentioning that a main character's parent died from cancer. Later, a few scenes take place in a children's hospital, but we don't know for sure what the kids are sick with.
The most prolonged one is when (mild spoiler) a character is confronting Alex about hooking up in a hotel room, and discovers Henry hiding in the closet. The character then gets really agitated and mostly nonverbal as she goes through a LOT of complicated emotions and has to sit down.
No. Per the section on drowning, there's a possibly uncomfortable scene, but it soon becomes obvious to the viewer that the character wasn't attempting suicide.
These aren't outright named in the film, but one main character suffers from bouts of depressive episodes that make him distant. Another main character has imposter syndrome and is sometimes anxious (in situations when anyone else would also be anxious though).
Yes but more sudden than loud. Characters are walking through a hospital and Henry is in the middle of explaining that he visits about once a month but not with camera crews.......when they hear what sounds like gunshots (more of a dull "pop" than a sharp "bang") but is later revealed to have been fireworks.
Yes. Nothing bad happens or comes close to happening, but the context is very emotionally heightened, and there's a lot of uncertainty. AND the scene itself is framed in a very dramatic, slo-mo way. BONUS: Here's some behind the scenes trivia in case it helps anyone feel more comfortable watching... The scene was originally filmed just to test camera angles and lighting, but everyone liked the actor's performance, so that's the version they kept.
One that's very minor and ambiguous. Henry and Alex are trolling each other over media/tabloid appearances. We see Alex take a photo of Henry's paparazzi beach photos and then use a sticker type app to add a bunch of cartoony features including giving Henry a stereotypical women's hula outfit.
Only in the sense that people frequently jump to assume any partner of Alex's is female. I felt that it was handled appropriately in each case where the person realizes their mistake. (Zahra even perhaps panics because she has just misgendered the prince of England, and he heard her!)
(edited for clarity) No, there's not aphobia. I'm asexual too, and just to put it out there, the only ace-negative thing I can think of is a moment of unintentional ignorance. A friend of Alex's had predicted Henry was gay purely because he didn't seem to be attracted to women.
Alex worries about his dad having a "Catholic moment" about his sexuality. His dad turns out to be whole-heartedly and actively supportive. ("Hey remember you're talking to the patron saint of gender neutral bathrooms in Austin!")
Depends what you count as virginity. Henry certainly isn't because makes a comment about having had gay sex previously (and is thus able to show Alex how it's done). Alex has done everything but penetrative gay sex before. You could argue that he's a virgin to that kind of sex, but he had done other sexual acts with men before.
Yes lots, and it's all very romantic and tasteful. Content includes making out, hooking up, banter, undressing, implied oral, and a scene in bed with *movement.* Camera work (closeups, slow/mo, etc) focuses almost exclusively on hands and faces. (Notable exceptions include Alex's lower back, and a "brief" shot of Henry's belt/pants being undone) The actual sex scenes don't have any explicit nudity and often fade to black or do something playful such as cutting to the Washington Monument. FINAL NOTE: Kudos to the intimacy coordinator because intimacy is precisely what DEFINES all these scenes and makes everything more intense and realistic than most people are likely expecting or prepared for.
Yes but very much consensually. After their physical relationship is already well-established, Henry invites Alex to watch him play polo. Fancy editing then rapidly splices together clips of (1) Henry on horseback, (2) Alex looking hot and bothered, (3) Henry and Alex hooking up afterward, and (4) closeups of Henry's butt bouncing in the saddle.
Maybe not capital-e Existentialism, but lots of narrative tension and conflict where characters question cultural norms, traditions, and historical impact and then examine their roles and responsibilities toward it all.
No. There's a "behind the scenes" moment involving the White House pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey, but no mention of Santa over Christmas and no mention of any (et al) occasions whatsoever.
Very happy! So many different kinds of happy that various thinkpieces are currently falling over each other to complain about this or that lack of realism, and one of the biggest fan complaints about the ending is that it was too nice to one of the "bad guys."
ZERO moments where airline safety is ever in question. LOTS of scenes with planes. Suggesting air travel, discussing air travel, demanding air travel, getting on planes, getting off planes, chatting on planes, smiling out the window on planes, and promising to break the sound barrier via what I can only assume is a plane.
No but Henry messes around like he's going to hit Alex with his car, complete with dramatic camera angles. Then he parks and gets out, and we see that the bumper is inches away from Alex's shins.
Henry has a fancy car that he drives erratically to show off. There's a sudden sound of screeching tires during Alex and Shaan's first conversation. (Right after: "...which brings us back to my original question: what IS an equerry?")
A character jumps in the lake suddenly, and there's a dramatically drawn out slo-mo underwater scene before he surfaces. It was definitely long enough that it made me go "wait he's not....oh okay phew."
NO, but there's (1) a false alarm moment in a children's hospital where the sound of fireworks sends everyone into lockdown mode. Then (2) a joke when Alex cheekily offers to trade jobs with his secret service agent, and she scoffs, "no one in their right mind would ever give you a gun."