Being a Stoic in its true sense—rather than the crude distortion of pop culture—is difficult, not because of the practice itself, but because you can never be certain whether you truly are one or merely masquerading as one.

When Seneca was forced by Nero to take his own life and went through all the rites of a Stoic, did he genuinely believe that externals held no value? Or was this simply the only way he knew to face the situation?

You will only ever know when it’s too late—when death comes knocking. But then, there is no one left to know, no one left to judge.

The mundaneness of some of the conversation annoyed me. The movie is a good representation of why you shouldn’t value externals; one should be happy only with what one has control and agency over—namely, virtues. A relationship is meant to enhance one’s life, like a fine wine; it shouldn’t be the thing that determines whether one is happy or not.

Being sad over the death of a loved one is like being sad that your favorite leaf fell from the tree in autumn—why be sad over the inevitable and expected? One should be happy for the life God (metaphorically) has given us. Like an actor in a play, when the play is over and we have to leave the stage, there is no sense in weeping over it, for we have played our part.

I am also not a fan of the type of relationship the movie portrays. This kind of “love at first glance,” where the heroine has a long-term relationship with her partner but, after hearing a complete stranger on the radio once, is ready to give everything up, is the antithesis of what I believe a relationship should be. Love should be a slow process in which the bond grows stronger over time, with every experience and obstacle overcome. Love is not something that just happens; it needs to be worked for. It is more like a plant that needs to be watered and cared for daily to grow stronger and more beautiful, or like two vines intertwining, never letting go of each other—a gradual merging of two souls into one.

Besides that, it’s a fine romance. The actress has a very cute smile. 6/10.