TL;DR – I was surprised just how quickly this series got its claws into me as I watched all the dates pan out.  

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

Two Years Later Review Introduction

Today, we look at a series that hits maybe a touch closer than I was expecting. There is nothing quite like a show that dives into situation that I live each day, set in the city I live in. I mean, not the romance thing, but the same bus each day, on the cusp of COVID in the city of Brisbane. This is a feeling that I found myself in when I loaded up that first date and was transported kilometres rather than continents.  

So, to set the scene, in early 2020, Emily Wright (Phoebe Tonkin) and Ryan Wright (Brenton Thwaites), no relations, are busmates in Brisbane, who take the same bus every day. They are good friends, well as good as you can have in just a bus situation. However, with the growing tide of masks and threats of lockdown, you never know when you will see someone again. Two years later. They find themselves on the same bus again for the first time. Taking a gamble, Ryan asks Emily out on a date or maybe eight, and for the first time, they share something as intimate as a phone number. But did they just destroy their bus-thing, or start something new?  

Is This Wooing?

At its core, this is a romance series, so how is the romance? And I have to say that I was charmed for almost the whole runtime. Structurally, the idea to frame all eight episodes around one date gave everything the driving force that it needed. It also helps that you cast Phoebe Tonkin and Brenton Thwaites, who are profoundly compelling and have clear chemistry. When Emily says her heart skipped a beat when she saw Ryan on the bus, I believe it. Once you have crossed that barrier, the rest could have been quite easy, but Two Years Later didn’t take the easy route; it took the messy route.

It was both nice and profoundly uncomfortable to see a very real and understandable fight unfold in front of you. You often hear the phrase ‘I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that’; however, here I was the fly, and I wanted to be anywhere else because it felt like I was looking into something intimate. Instead of making it cloudy, all the messiness made the story feel more real, more tangible. It felt more earned in ways that you don’t always see in romance shows. Though not voting … that is a red flag, my dude.       

Goodness Roy Billing

I have mentioned the casting of Phoebe Tonkin and Brenton Thwaites, but I should take a moment to congratulate Ben Parkinson for all their work casting this film, because every single person is perfectly cast. One of the best examples of this is Roy Billing, who has been a mainstay of Australian and New Zealand cinema for longer than I have been alive. Here, he shows such vulnerability that is essential for the story. The story needs that emotional punch, and few people could have pulled off quite like him. It had the same impact as John Lithgow in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. There are all of these small roles throughout, and they all help build the central romance.      

Aggressively Brisbane

From the moment you see that yellow bus pull up to the curb, you know that something is going to be special, but I was not prepared for what I got. In my time, I have seen a lot of movies and shows filmed in Brisbane, even the odd film set in Brisbane, but in my time, I have never watched a show so aggressively Brisbane as Two Years Later. Brisbane is not just a setting, okay, well, it is a setting, but it is ingrained into the very foundations. It was not just that they had walked along bridges that I have walked along, got stuck in the same IKEA that I have been stuck in, or I know just which building that party was set in, or that I am 100% sure I have been to a wedding reception at the exact same place they held their wedding reception at. The people, the setting, the locations, it all feels real in a way that I don’t think I have experienced before. All it was missing was a park run subplot.

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Two Years Later? Yes, yes, we do. It was a delightfully messy ride from start to finish for everyone. I didn’t quite know how it was going to go, and I found myself sucked into their story. You kind of want to see if the “eight date” conceit actually pays off, and I am glad it did. Have you seen Two Years Later yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Two Years Later
Directed by – Emma Freeman, Lucy Gaffy, & Paige Rattray  
Written by – Pete Bridges
Created by – Pete Bridges
Production/Distribution Companies – Screen Australia, Screen Queensland, Hoodlum Entertainment, & Paramount+
Starring – Phoebe Tonkin, Brenton Thwaites, Heather Mitchell, & Roy Billing
With – Jordan Patrick Smith, Jada Alberts, Lisa Kay, Ron Smyck, John McNeill, Amy Ingram, Anita Hegh, Joey Vieira, Mia Lierich, Jerome Orrock, Darren Gilshenan, Matt Domingo, Emily Burton, & Perry Mooney
Episodes Covered – First Date, Second Date, Third Date, Fourth Date, Fifth Date, Sixth Date, Seventh Date, & Eighth Date