I know I’m a little late to talk about the rom-com series “Modern Love”, that it was premiered last autumn, but better late than never. I want to express my modest opinion about this cosy, sensitive, comforting and modern series produced by Amazon Prime Video that became a hit this last year in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Have a look at the 4 reasons you must see the series right now, in case you haven’t already seen it. 

1. Creator

Modern Love” is a rom-com and drama anthology series, written, directed and produced by John Carney. He is an Irish multitalented artist who became an important person to Irish audiovisual. He creates the acclaimed Irish movies “Once” which had its official world release at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007 and won the World Cinema Audience Award in the category “Dramatic”, and “Sing Street”, two fantastic movies of the contemporary Irish movie history. He is also a co-creator of the Irish TV drama series Bachelors Walk.

2. Theme

The series is an adaptation of The New York Times column of the same name – a collection of crowd-sourced real-life stories from its readers, and it consists of eight half-hour episodes, that explores love in its multitude of forms, including sexual, romantic, familial, platonic and self-love. 

The source material for Amazon’s Modern Love is, of course, the column of The New York Times that developed a cult following due to its eclectic mix of tales about divorce, dying fish, online dating, self-love, working 9-to-5 at a florist, and the perils of hooking up with a best mate.

Modern Love found a way to take matters of the heart beyond meet-cutes and fairy-tale romance, and anyone could submit a story. Authors, students, actors, comedians, and marketing experts have all shared a Modern Love writing credit over the years, and it’s a major part of the feature’s appeal.

The columns range from 1500 to 1700 words, and while the letters – plus its spin-off podcast – are hugely popular, the TV series really does bring these stories to life. On paper, we imagine these people as characters in a story, but seeing them on screen makes them feel even more real.

3. Storylines

The standalone 8 episodes of Modern Love presents us a variety of stories centred in the cosmopolitan and glamours New York City, such as an unlikely friendship, a lost love resurfaced, a marriage at its turning point, a date that might not have been a date, an unconventional new family, an orphan young woman and her obsession, the love that arrives late in life, and a young woman coping with the dramatic highs and lows of bipolar disorder, etc. These are unique stories about the joys and tribulations of love, each inspired by a real-life personal essay from the beloved New York Times column “Modern Love.”

4. Cast

The series boasts a stellar cast including Anne Hathaway (“The Devil Wears Prada”, “Les Misérables”), Tina Fey (“30 Rock”, “Seven Days without End”), Dev Patel (“Lion – A Journey Home”, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”), Andrew Scott (“Fleabag”), Gary Carr (“The Deuce”) and Julia Garner (“Ozark”) are some of the incredible actors that are part of the cast. 

5. The hit

During the last months, the series Amazon became popular and acclaimed by audience and critics. Amazon Prime recently announced that they had commissioned a second season of the series which proved a hit in more than 200 countries worldwide. It was revealed that one episode of the second season will be filmed in Dublin in the New Year.

According to Sunday World on 13 November: “ the Dubliner, John Carney shot the first season in New York, but because of Covid and because he wants to tell different stories, he is coming to London for most of the second series”. The newspaper also 4added “John being proudly Irish he has earmarked one episode to be filmed in Dublin in the New Year.

Modern Love is streaming on Amazon Prime Video now.

Photos by Amazon