For a few days in early October, Town House Books & Cafe on North 2nd Avenue in St. Charles stopped being just a bookshop and became a film set. Local reporting caught the crew shooting there. The movie was Better Than the Movies, Netflix’s adaptation of Lynn Painter’s #1 New York Times bestselling young adult novel, and the shoot has now wrapped.
Director Julia Hart confirmed the news on Instagram on October 24. “That is a wrap on Better Than The Movies,” she wrote. “The Midwest & its extraordinary inhabitants have stolen my heart.” Four days later she thanked the crew as “a wonderful group of human beings who care deeply about their jobs & deeply about each other.”
A near two-month shoot
Production Weekly had scheduled filming in Chicago from September 3 to October 21, based at The Fields Studios. It ran a few days past that. Hart gave a first glimpse in September with a short set clip captioned “so far so good.” Painter spent several days on set herself, praised Hart’s handling of the book, and was still in Chicago at the end. On October 25 she posted that she had delivered fan-made bracelets to the two leads the night before.
Those leads are Beatrice Kitsos, of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, as Liz Buxbaum, and David Iacono, of The Summer I Turned Pretty, as Wes Bennett. Netflix announced them on July 31, after what it called a buzzy talent search and passionate fan casting. Kitsos had been a fan pick for months and once posted on Instagram, “Pls let me audition.” Painter wrote that the pair’s chemistry was “insane.”
The supporting cast includes Deacon Phillippe as Michael Young, Judy Greer as Helena, Luke Kirby as Brian Buxbaum and Claire Coffee as Martha Buxbaum.
The story
Netflix calls the film a romantic comedy that pays homage to romance tropes before turning them on their heads. Liz, a hopeless romantic, has long pined for Michael. When he returns to town, she is willing to befriend her annoying next-door neighbor Wes to get on his radar. Then she discovers she likes having Wes around. Hart co-wrote the screenplay with Jordan Horowitz and Heather Flanders.
The film is now in post-production, with a Netflix release expected in 2027.
