Released on Netflix on June 5, 2026, Office Romance should have been a showcase for Jennifer Lopez’s undeniable screen presence and authority. Instead, it becomes a frustratingly shallow workplace fantasy that mistakes female empowerment for desirability and repeatedly reduces its accomplished CEO protagonist to a figure viewed through a distinctly male lens. What could have been a smart romantic comedy about power, leadership, and modern relationships settles for something far less ambitious.
Jennifer Lopez stars as Jackie Cruz, a high-powered airline CEO whose company enforces a strict no-office-romance policy. Naturally, the film’s central conflict emerges when Jackie finds herself attracted to Daniel Blanchflower (Brett Goldstein), the company’s newly hired lawyer. What follows is a predictable workplace romance that never fully decides whether it wants to celebrate female leadership or quietly undermine it.
For a movie released in 2026, Office Romance often feels trapped in assumptions that Hollywood should have left behind years ago. Jackie is introduced as intelligent, ambitious, and commanding, yet the screenplay repeatedly treats these qualities as flaws that need to be softened. Instead of embracing her authority, the film spends much of its runtime trying to convince audiences that beneath the CEO title is simply a woman waiting for romance to complete her.
The problem is not that Jackie falls in love. Romantic comedies are built on love stories. The problem is how the film chooses to frame her journey. Time and again, the camera, dialogue, and narrative place Jackie under a male gaze that seems far more interested in her appearance than her accomplishments. Rather than exploring the challenges of being a woman in a position of power, Office Romance repeatedly reduces its protagonist to a fantasy figure whose value is measured through the attention she receives from men.
What makes this approach particularly disappointing is Jennifer Lopez herself.
One of the film’s biggest problems is that it misunderstands what makes Lopez such a compelling screen presence. Throughout her career, she has been at her best when portraying women who inspire, lead, and overcome adversity through determination and resilience. Whether playing characters who fight for their dreams, challenge expectations, or command respect through strength of character, Lopez possesses a natural authority that audiences instinctively respond to.
That is what makes Office Romance such a frustrating experience. Instead of allowing Lopez to fully embrace the qualities that have defined some of her strongest performances, the film reduces her character to a fantasy constructed largely around her desirability. Jackie Cruz may be a CEO on paper, but the screenplay seems far more interested in reminding viewers that she is attractive than demonstrating why she is successful.
The result is a role that feels beneath Lopez’s talents. She remains charismatic, confident, and effortlessly watchable, but the character is never given the depth or dignity necessary to match the actress portraying her. Rather than presenting a genuinely complex woman navigating power, leadership, and love, the film repeatedly steers the story toward scenarios that feel designed to satisfy a conventional male fantasy.
To Lopez’s credit, she does everything she can to elevate the material. Even when the script stumbles, she injects scenes with energy and confidence. Her chemistry with Brett Goldstein is pleasant enough, and Goldstein’s natural charm makes him an appealing romantic lead. Yet neither performer can fully overcome a screenplay that consistently chooses cliches over meaningful character development.
The strangest aspect of Office Romance is that it appears to believe it is empowering. The film wants credit for placing a woman in the corner office, yet it rarely treats that achievement as meaningful. Instead, it frequently falls back on outdated ideas that suggest powerful women are only truly relatable once their professional armor is stripped away and their romantic vulnerabilities take center stage.
Great modern romantic comedies understand that ambition and romance are not opposing forces. A woman does not have to become less successful, less confident, or less authoritative to be worthy of love. The best films in the genre recognize that strength and vulnerability can coexist. Unfortunately, Office Romance never quite reaches that understanding.
Instead, it delivers a surprisingly conventional story disguised as a contemporary workplace romance. Its corporate setting may be modern, but its worldview often feels decades behind.
What is most disappointing is that Lopez does not need this kind of material to captivate an audience. She is far more convincing when she is allowed to play women who influence others, inspire change, and command a room through intelligence, determination, and emotional strength. Those are the performances that showcase her greatest strengths as an actress.
Office Romance occasionally hints at that version of Jackie Cruz, but never fully commits to it. Instead, it settles for a shallow romantic fantasy that diminishes both its protagonist and its star.
In the end, Office Romance is not a disaster. It is watchable, occasionally amusing, and buoyed by the charisma of its leads. But it is also disappointingly dated and frustratingly superficial. What could have been a sharp examination of power, workplace dynamics, and modern relationships becomes a film content with repeating old stereotypes while pretending to challenge them.
Jennifer Lopez deserves characters that rise to her level, not stories that ask her to shrink to fit theirs.
★☆☆☆☆ Rating: 1/5