Sex laughs! Nail clippings on the couch! The new TV romance is so realistic it’s close to perfect | television

IIt’s rare to watch a fantasy romance and feel truly invested in the question of will or not—and even rarer for it to reflect familiar relationship turmoil. Many TV love stories move straight into wish fulfillment, providing instant chemistry, no insurmountable challenges during the runtime, and the spontaneous reassurance that love conquers all.

For example, Netflix’s Nobody Wants This — which is based on a real couple, and ostensibly explores whether a relationship can survive religious differences — didn’t wait to resolve that question before pulling its threads together. In real life, promising connections face far fewer obstacles, for reasons as trivial as incompatible schedules.

So I was thrilled to find a series that not only exudes real love, but also understands the necessity of earning rewards. The New Years (Los Años Nuevos), a Spanish miniseries streaming on Mubi, makes every other TV romance seem like it was written by artificial intelligence; I’d say it’s close to perfect.

Over 10 episodes, each set on New Year’s Eve, follow the development of the romance between Oscar and Anna, from dating to falling in love, and then – gradually and in familiar ways – falling apart. Despite its decade-long scope, it’s not a particularly grand romance; It is more honest, exploring the formative relationship and its ebb and flow over time. Think Ordinary People or One Day, set in Madrid.

When we meet Oscar (Francisco Carril), on the last day of 2015, he is busy with medical school and feeling depressed after a breakup. Free-spirited Ana (Aria del Rio) hasn’t found her way yet but has big plans to move abroad. They are both 30 years old, and initially bond at a mutual friend’s house party over the fact that their birthdays fall on either side of the New Year.

Of course they come together – but not all at once. When their relationship is broken off by Oscar’s ex-boyfriend, a year passes until they reconnect; A year later, they were in a relationship but were still getting to know each other. The stop-and-start track is more true-to-life than the instant fireworks (who hasn’t had some loose ends to tie up?) and draws the audience into their deepest connections.

Oscar and Anna aren’t just playing their parts in Boy Meets Girl, going through the motions of their happily ever after, but they are individuals with their own ambitions, hang-ups, and fears. Their somewhat austere early encounters highlight their differences as much as their chemistry: Oscar tends to be strict, and also worries about being perceived as strict, as when he worries about what music to play during their first intimate encounter (relatable!). Anna, although not as self-confident as she seems, is independent, stubborn, and sometimes selfish: when her friends give her a birthday surprise, she ditches them for a party.

These natural details give the New Year a wonderful sense of life. As the years pass, traditions are passed down, such as eating grapes at midnight; But the characters change as they reappear: The boyfriend will go from racking up lines of cocaine in one episode to exhausted by new fatherhood in the next. Likewise, by visiting in one day, we see how Oscar and Anna’s relationship has developed in the past 12 months through changes in the way they approach conversation, domestic challenges and familiar frustrations with family.

Over time, they learn to adapt to each other, and then grow together. Oscar initially rejects Anna’s armchair analysis of the influence of his upbringing; A year later, we saw he embraced her point of view. And along the way, of course, there’s plenty of sex – which, although explicit, resembles actual sex, with kinky maneuvers, laughter and varying levels of passion.

By the fourth episode, the couple is living together, still fascinated by each other’s idiosyncrasies (she clips her nails on the sofa, he urinates while sitting) and shouts to their parents about their easy division of labor. Their parents coddle them, and they choose to let time teach them the lesson that the path of true love is never smooth.

Soon the differences that attracted Anna and Oscar to each other in the first place threaten to separate them as her adventurousness collides with his caution. It’s no spoiler to say that the honeymoon period ends on a holiday in Berlin, with a disastrous night in Berghain (where else!).

Many of Oskar and Anna’s highs and lows elicit a poignant or painful confession: The pleasure of meeting a stranger and realizing attraction is mutual. The joy that comes with overcoming your first challenges as a “couple.” The sinking realization that love alone may not be enough.

With eight episodes now over and two to go, I don’t know how Anna and Oscar will get back together. I’m confident they will, because the rules of the narrative require it, but their happy ending will be more important because it’s hard-earned.