The Promise has been marketed as a romance set against the backdrop of the fall of the Ottoman Empire. So hey, pop quiz: Do you guys remember what happened during the fall of the Ottoman Empire? Answer: the Armenian genocide. Yeah—not a great time for romance, and definitely not a great setting for an awkward attempt at a romantic film.
The Promise finds its hero, Michael (Oscar Isaac), taking the dowry from his engagement to go to med school in Constantinople, where he falls in immediate, obvious love with Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), a fellow Armenian and a boringly flawless woman. Ana, for some reason, is dating American journalist Chris (Christian Bale), even though it kinda seems like she hates him. The first 20 minutes of this film are so painfully bright, fake, and weird that I would’ve bailed if I didn’t have to finish watching the movie for my job.