Movie Review - Love Switch (2024)

Country: United States

Language: English

Type of story: Body Swap

Is the protagonist Transgender? No.

Sexuality: Doesn’t change

Nudity: No

How I watched it: Prime Video (Watch here), Also available on YouTube (Watch Here)

When I last watched it: September 19, 2025

I haven’t reviewed a couples body swap movie in over a year.

For this review, I’m choosing a body swap movie from this decade! 2024’s Love Switch.

My synopsis (spoiler-free):  James (Chris Reid) and Michelle (Melanie Stone) are a busy couple with two kids, Sadie (Scarlett Hazen) and Thomas (Manning Hazen). But they’re struggling. On the verge of divorce they are overworked and underappreciated.  On the eve of their 13th anniversary, they get into an argument and claim that they’d never last a day as each other.

* * Spoilers ahead * *

Maybe it’s because this is made in the 2020's, this body swap movie is less about body swap shenanigans and more about the couple’s relationship. If you’ve ever been in a struggling relationship, it feels like this movie is talking to you. It gets uncomfortable at times.  Not because the movie is bad, but because it might be holding up a mirror at your own relationship. Can you see yourself in James or Michelle?

James has a shitty job with an awful boss. He’s underpaid and just got a pay cut. Michelle is a stay-at-home mom. As a couple, they’re struggling financially. They’re running out of clean clothes. Michelle is forced to take online classes so she can get a job.

He’s struggling because he has a shitty boss. She’s struggling because she’s overworked and underappreciated. Naturally, as these types of stories go, they don’t see each other’s struggles.

The Transformation: 

Twenty-eight minutes into the movie. It’s their 13th anniversary on the 13th day of the month. At midnight while they’re sleeping (of course), Michelle at home, and James in a hotel room, lightning simultaneously strikes the house and the hotel.

James in Michelle’s body (J) is awoken first by their daughter, Sadie.  “Mom, we’re late,” Sadie announces. 

“Go tell your mother,” J replies. 

“Whaa?” Sadie responds, confused.

“What is on me?” cries J as he pulls at the longer locks on his head.

“Umm, your hair.” 

J groans in pain, looks under the comforter, and realizes he’s his wife. He rushes to the mirror and rubs his face, while Sadie looks on, confused.  J uses the “It’s just that time of the month” excuse for the first, but not last, time in the movie.

J calls Michelle in James’s body (M) and wakes her up.  Naturally, she’s confused too, and runs her groin into a desk.

Does this Movie pass the Bechdel Test? With this movie being made in 2024, it had better! Before the body swap, Michelle gets time to talk to her daughter, her therapist, and her Zumba class with their conversations not centering around a male.

Sexuality: There’s no sex in this film, though J and M attempt to kiss each other twice.

They adapt. Typically in these movies the body swap protagonists adapt to their new bodies and lives. While we get to see J do Zumba, there is no real expectation that this is permanent. They both believe this is temporary. They even try to get James an IT job with the school despite still being M.

The Swap Back: After J and the kids make a romantic anniversary dinner, J and M finally kiss and confess their love for each other.  That’s enough for them to swap back instantly.  No midnight lightning or sleep necessary.

How it ends: The couple confesses their love. James quits his job. They don’t get divorced. They take the family rock-hounding. Presumably they work through their financial issues.

Random Thoughts:

• Since Michelle forgot to do laundry the previous night, everyone’s clothes stunk. Sadie was forced to wear her mom’s clothes to school.

• “Anniversary on a budget” another hint they’re financially in the hole.

• James’s boss Kinsella (Twyla Wilson) aka Grim Reaper, is the worst.  She fires the staff and gives James a pay cut, while adding to his responsibilities.  That story about Mittens - she ran over her cat and kept going to work. Then when James says “It’s my anniversary.” “Celebrate another day.”  If he wasn’t in such a financial hole, I’m sure he would’ve walked out right there.

• Michelle’s daily routine:  wake up, make the kids lunch, pick out their clothes, drive them to school. Clean house, Zumba, therapy. Volunteering at school. Online class. Cook dinner.

• It’s possible both Michelle’s and James’s problem is not saying ‘no’ and letting everyone take advantage of them.

• I know she’s a young actress, but man did Scarlett Hazen take me out of it whenever she was in a scene.  She acted like she was about to crack up on every line.

• You can tell James tries. When Michelle went to deliver a meal to their friends, he comes home and cleans up after her.

• J drops his son, Thomas off at the wrong school. This is certainly a red flag that he’s not involved in his kids lives. He doesn’t know what school 

• It was clever when they went to the therapist, they explained that they were role-playing themselves.

Overall impression: 

Overall it’s an OK movie. Kinda uncomfortable at times due to dealing with marriage issues. Not all of their issues are resolved by the end of the movie. While it’s a TG body swap movie, it doesn’t really feel like one.  If you’re looking for fun or deep gender shenanigans, you might have to look elsewhere.