When we first heard that Through My Window was getting a sequel titled Across the Sea, we hurried to check whether we were the only ones who had disliked the former. When we saw that IMDb had ranked it 5.5 out of 10, we wondered what was wrong with them. The film deserved a far lower score, but we believe that the love for the book that it is based on overshadowed how abysmal the film itself was. That had to be the reason the project was greenlit for two sequels. We truly don’t understand why anyone wanted to see what happens to Ares and Raquel after their “I Love Yous” when they are not even interesting people, to begin with. The grief of that has continued with Through My Window: Across The Sea, and here is a recap of it.
Spoilers Alert
Plot Summary: How Is Raquel And Ares’ Long-Distance Relationship?
Ares is off to medical school in Stockholm while Raquel is studying literature, and the both of them are only interested in talking to each other over the phone instead of focusing on what’s going on around them. We might still excuse Raquel, but we don’t get how Ares managed it, considering the stresses of medical school. At the end of Through My Window (2022), we saw that Raquel was a published author, but in Across The Sea, it turns out that Raquel just had a manuscript ready to go, and she still had to send it to a publisher. Yoshi is clearly not over his feelings for Raquel but has temporarily pushed them aside and is acting as Raquel’s agent. Meanwhile, both Ares and Raquel have gained some admirers in their colleges, though nothing has happened yet.
Things start rolling when Ares surprises Raquel, and they both go to his beach house, only to find that Ares’ brothers are also there with their friends. What happens in the few days at the beach house forms the crux of Across the Sea. There is plenty of objectification to go around, but feelings are truly ruffled when Ares finds out that Gregory did not know about Raquel having a boyfriend, and Raquel discovers that Vera, a girl who is obviously carrying a torch for Ares, has joined them on the trip. They both came at a time when Raquel and Ares had understood that they had somewhat drifted apart from each other and needed to work on their relationship.
While Gregory remained pretty harmless, Vera exhibits some top-class, obnoxious pick-me behavior, making it very clear that she thought of Raquel as nothing more than someone who Ares would let go of eventually. Even Ares does nothing to soothe Raquel’s obviously growing insecurity. Raquel decides to place her faith in Ares regardless, but she is feeling more and more alienated from him. This is when Gregory tells her how his girlfriend in school had dumped him for Ares, who had gotten together with another girl barely two weeks earlier. Raquel knew right from the beginning of their relationship that Ares was a bit of a player, but she did not let that affect their relationship. However, in light of her suspicions, Ares’ past callousness took on a more relevant consideration. It doesn’t help that Raquel sees a picture on Ares’ phone of Vera wearing his shirt. Raquel decides that she has wallowed enough in her insecurity, and under the pretense of a game of truth or dare, she asks Ares whether anybody else has ever worn his shirt. Ares doesn’t know where this is going, but Vera understands. Raquel’s next question is very direct, and she asks whether Vera and Ares have been intimate with each other. Upon not getting an answer from either, Raquel concludes that she has been cheated on.
Ending Explained: Why Do Raquel And Ares Break Up?
The fact is that both Raquel and Ares had been struggling in their own ways throughout the year. Ares often wondered whether the medical school had been a mistake, and Raquel had hidden from Ares that her novel was close to getting published. Ares tells Raquel that Vera helped him make friends in his difficult times, and it was during one such party that he was drunk and woke up with his shirt on Vera, with no memory of what happened. Raquel and Ares are at a crossroads, and they don’t know where to go from here. Raquel decides to go to a party, and Ares decides to stay back. That is when Vera confesses to Ares that nothing had happened between them that day, but Ares is furious at her for letting Raquel think otherwise.
Even the other two brothers are not doing any better. Artemis is the worst possible boyfriend who could never respect Claudia, and he was rightfully dumped by her. As for Apollo, there seems to be some tension between him and Daniela regarding the kind of relationship they want. Finally, even Yoshi leads on Anna before breaking her heart by making it clear that he is not over Raquel. Yoshi seriously needed to get his head and priorities together. When Raquel leaves with Gregory at the party, Yoshi steals someone’s motorcycle and takes off on it. That is when disaster strikes, and he gets into an accident, falling off the cliff. Ares sees the accident and immediately rushes to Gregory’s side, but all his CPR is not able to revive him. When Raquel sees a dead Yoshi, even she breaks down. The truth is that neither Ares nor Raquel had moved on with Vera or Gregory and had probably decided that they wanted to be with each other. But before they could communicate, things went wrong.
During Through My Window: Across The Sea’s ending, an upset Raquel furiously questions Ares why he was not able to save Yoshi. The question was unfair, but it was also not right of Ares to say that it was because Raquel had distracted him throughout his school year that he wasn’t able to do anything. Raquel and Ares part ways, with the latter going back to Stockholm and trying to figure out whether medical school is really for him. As for Raquel, Yoshi had sent her manuscript to a publishing house, and it had been greenlit to be turned into a novel. We see that Vera texted Ares but he was about to text an apology to Raquel. It is not clear whether he sent that message, but the way Raquel closed her window implies that either he didn’t, or she doesn’t care anymore. Ares will not get through her window again.
Final Thoughts
What was the need for centering this story around Ares and Raquel instead of Artemis and Claudia? Both were terrible couples, but the latter at least had a real conflict to overcome. Ares’ problem is literally “every cool guy out of his comfort space” struggle, like Noah in The Kissing Booth or Paxton in Never Have I Ever. It makes you wonder what these guys ever bring to the table in terms of personality or even courage—if this is all it takes for them to be unnerved. Claudia and Artemis had a story to tell. We understand that it would have been toxic, but Ares and Raquel were not exactly healthy.
Kudos to Claudia for refusing to take back Artemis, but it was insufferable that she reconsidered her decision at the end of the movie. Since the writers have decided that the attraction between the two is strong enough that they won’t break up, why not make the movie about them instead of bringing back the insufferable Ares and Raquel, who we did not even feel like rooting for? At the end of the day, Through My Window: Across The Sea was as bland as its predecessor, but we know that Netflix has signed a cursed contract that will bring a third movie that will most likely have Raquel and Ares making up and possibly getting married. We don’t have it in us to protest this, but we sincerely wish that Claudia permanently breaks up with Artemis for someone better.
