The sequel to the steamy and wildly popular 2023 young-adult romance film Culpa Mia (My Fault), Culpa Tuya (Your Fault), continues to embrace its over-the-top absurdity without ever pretending to be something it’s not—a rare quality in films today. The entire cast is stunning, the locations are breathtaking, and the storyline never fails to entertain, albeit in a trashy romance novel kind of way.
However, Culpa Tuya perpetuates the franchise’s identity crisis, feeling like an all-you-can-eat buffet of young-adult film tropes. Is it a rom-com? A martial arts flick where the characters dress perpetually in designer clothes? An underground crime drama where even the ultra-wealthy have to get their hands dirty to survive? Or a Fast & Furious-style street racing saga for those craving sleek cars and high-speed thrills?
Honestly, I have no idea.
The last time we saw step-siblings Noah (Nicole Wallace) and Nick (Gabriel Guevara), they had finally succumbed to their passions, only for their parents to catch them kissing—with looks of utter horror on their faces. Rafaella (Marta Hazas), after witnessing her daughter locking lips with her new husband Iván’s (Iván Sánchez) son, promptly tells her husband that they need to break up. However, their resolve is now being tested.
Noah is off to college, where she befriends Briar (Álex Béjar), a free spirit with a dark secret. Meanwhile, Nick—who has a knack for throwing punches, chasing girls, breaking traffic laws in any luxury car he can get his hands on, and asking questions later—is determined to prove to Noah that he has changed his reckless ways. That effort is complicated when he meets a sexy colleague at his dad’s law firm.
After being told not to check her out as she walks away, Nick naturally does precisely that, with all the defiance of a rebellious teenager. Yeah, it’s that kind of movie.
Culpa Tuya is based on the second book of Mercedes Ron’s best-selling series, “The Culpables Trilogy.” Like the first installment, this second chapter offers dozens of carrots for the audience to chase but refuses to deliver even a single stick. Once again directed by Domingo González, who adapted the original, the sequel credits Sofía Cuenca (Paradise Hills) as a co-writer.
I’m guessing she contributed to the dialogue, which was so absurd and laughable the first time around that it was jaw-dropping. Now, it’s just eye-opening. Unfortunately, there’s no more talk of “Inuit kisses” or putting out “fire volcanos on your mouth,” much to my disappointment—not my fault, not yours, but theirs. (Please forgive that pun play on words.) Yet, the term “sister sandwich” took a weird turn about thirty minutes in.
I can only hope this was a regrettable subtitle error.
While we can pick holes in Prime Video’s Culpa Tuya all day, we must take a moment to praise one thing that cannot be denied: the chemistry between Wallace and Guevara, which ignites the screen repeatedly. I wouldn’t argue that the performances are stiff and cardboard, as many will. The talented cast struggles to elevate the material, but they do what they can. In particular, Wallace brings some nuance to the role of Noah. I will say Guevara shows an evident talent for comic relief.
However, the franchise throws so much at the screen that it’s like watching the cinematic equivalent of another gluttonous YA-romantic cliché buffet. The second entry is quite an improvement over the first. Still, the technique of throwing everything you can at the steamy streaming screen and hoping they all stick is, frankly, bizarre. The method will cover glaring plot holes, but it doesn’t care who knows it. Culpa Tuya is incredibly comfortable within its skin.
That is fine for fans of this new ya-gluttonous genre that Prime Video has created for itself. Yet, each plot twist is utterly predictable, leaving very little suspense in its wake. Sure, the journey may be exciting, like having a cat chase a laser, but you will walk away clueless about what you just saw from the experience.
You can stream Culpa Tuya exclusively on Prime Video on December 27th!
Culpa Yuya (Your Fault) is another gluttonous YA-romantic cliché buffet!
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I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.
