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Love a forced proximity romance? Here’s why The Road Trip is your next streaming obsession

From lovers to enemies (to lovers?)
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How could it get any worse than bumping into your ex at a destination wedding? Try crashing into them en route and having to drive together in a cramped campervan from Bristol to Spain!

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That’s the premise of the must-see new six-part Paramount+ rom-com The Road Trip – an adaptation of Beth O’Leary’s bestselling novel of the same name – which centres around exes Addie (Emma Appleton) and Dylan (Laurie Davidson).

The Road Trip stills
(Credit: Paramount+)

What is The Road Trip about?

Over the course of their 1000-mile journey, Addie and her sister, Deb (Isabella Laughland), plus their curious travel companion, Rodney (Angus Imrie) – a wedding guest whose plea for a ride Addie accepted – make awkward small talk with Dylan and his obnoxious best mate, Marcus (David Jonsson), while trapped “in a tin box of passive aggression”, as Deb puts it.

While Dylan is eager to mend fences with Addie and address their complicated past, seemingly unaware of what exactly transpired between them, she’s completely closed off to him.

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“I thought the fact she was coming to the wedding meant she wanted to talk about what happened, but she just shuts down,” a frustrated Dylan tells groom Krish (Karan Gill) as he calls to give him an update on their expected arrival time.

Through flashbacks, we learn how the pair first met in Spain two years earlier, what went wrong between them and why they’re no longer speaking. Will returning to the scene of the crime reignite old sparks for the former lovers?

The Road Trip stills
(Credit: Paramount+)

Who is the cast of The Road Trip?

Starring as exes Addie and Dylan are up-and-coming stars, Emma Appleton and Laurie Davidson.

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Reflecting on their character’s dynamic, Appleton recently told The Mirror, “There’s something unresolved there.”

“Addie has said, ‘You can’t talk to me, don’t email me, don’t text.’ Everyone has their own version of the break-up, their own narrative, and no one else knows the truth. They’ve both handled it in very different ways.”

For Davidson, it was a case of art imitating life, as he was going through a break-up himself when he landed the role of Dylan.

“It really resonated with me,” he told The Mirror. “Dylan didn’t want them to break up and has not stopped thinking about Addie, so it’s almost like it picks up from the point at which they broke up because there’s been no contact.”

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The Road Trip stills
(Credit: Paramount+)

The cast had a ball shooting between the UK and the Canary Islands, with trips to waterparks and doing karaoke on the weekends. But for Appleton, a self-confessed “shameless rom-com fan” it was hard not to get swept up in the emotional rollercoaster of the unfolding story.

“I always forget that shooting is hard on the emotions,” she told You magazine. “Everyone thinks it’s going to be really light and fluffy, yet actually the emotions they brought up – falling in love, falling out of love, being confused about love – are pretty intense. But that makes it very relatable. It’s a validation to watch something and go, ‘Yes, I felt like that! I guess that’s normal.’

“You realise these emotions are universal, and it’s comforting because sometimes you can feel very isolated in these situations. You’re going, ‘Is this just me? Am I mad for feeling this way?’

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The Road Trip Paramount
(Credit: Paramount+)

Where to watch The Road Trip

Ready to delve deeper into Addie and Dylan’s not-so-conventional romance? Stream all episodes of The Road Trip now, only on Paramount+

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