I Didn't Like You
A 12-minute romance that sneaks up on you
I Didn't Like You is a 2026 short film about two friends—Emilia and Maxine—who decide to spy on their best friend's first date. What they expect to watch is the tentative awkwardness of two strangers figuring each other out. What actually happens: the chemistry crackling between them isn't with the person on the date. It's with each other.
That's the whole premise. And it works because the film doesn't waste time dancing around it.
Why this premise works better as a short than a feature
The thing nobody mentions about short romantic films is how much harder they have to work. You don't get a second act to let feelings simmer. You don't get a false breakup and a reconciliation arc. You get one setup, one turn, and whatever emotional residue sticks in the final frames—and I Didn't Like You apparently understands this constraint deeply.
What's striking is the decision to filter the entire romance through observation. Emilia and Maxine aren't the ones on the date. They're watching someone else be vulnerable, someone else take a social risk, and that removes the usual armor people wear when they know they're being watched. Sitting together, commenting in whispers, sharing a private language—it's that specific kind of intimacy that sneaks past your defenses before you've named it as intimacy at all.
There's a moment early on where the two of them react to something happening across the room, and the way they turn to each other at the same instant carries more romantic charge than most films manage in an entire third act. The comedy keeps things grounded. Dry. The kind of humor that comes from two people who know each other so well that the joke is already half-finished before it starts—which, honestly, is the only way a 12-minute romance survives without tipping into sentimentality.
Where to watch it (and why it's hard to find)
I Didn't Like You is available on major OTT streaming services, though you won't necessarily stumble on it browsing by genre. Short films tend to get buried in recommendation algorithms built for feature-length content. Your best move: search by the full title on your preferred platform, or check Movie OTT's where-to-watch tracker for current availability in your region—it updates in real time and catches listings that don't show up in a platform's search.
The film doesn't have studio marketing machinery behind it, so it's the kind of title that spreads through word-of-mouth rather than ads. That's actually a strength. Viewers who find it tend to rewatch immediately, which is a specific endorsement that longer films rarely earn.
The setup: two friends, one date, zero expectations
Emilia and Maxine are staking out their mutual friend's first date from a distance. Binoculars optional, plausible deniability firmly in place. The premise has the kind of simplicity that short films do best—one clear situation, two characters, and a single location anchoring the key scenes. The script trusts its two actors to do the heavy lifting in the margins between dialogue, which means the performances carry the emotional weight here.
Running at exactly 12 minutes, the film doesn't waste a frame establishing that central irony. The realization lands quietly. Funny. Genuinely felt. You're not sitting through 90 minutes waiting for two people to figure out what you already know; you're watching it happen in real time, and the compression makes it hit harder.
What makes it a queer romance worth your time
Based on the plot summary, yes—this is a queer romance. The central relationship that emerges is between Emilia and Maxine, two women who accidentally fall for each other while playing matchmakers. If you're looking for something in the vein of quiet, character-driven queer storytelling (think the tone of Everything Sucks! or One Day at a Time, but condensed into a single sitting), this lands in that neighborhood.
The film doesn't announce its queerness loudly. It's just... there. The way the two of them keep finding reasons to stay close, the way they react to what the other person is thinking—that's the story. No grand coming-out moment. No declaration. Just two people realizing something's shifted between them while they were busy watching someone else.
Frequently asked questions
How long is it? Exactly 12 minutes. That runtime is part of the design—the story is built to land its emotional beat within a single compact sitting.
Who's in it? Director and cast details for I Didn't Like You haven't surfaced prominently in major film databases. It's a low-profile short production, and crew credits may be more visible on the streaming platform hosting it than in external databases. If that changes, Movie OTT tends to catch casting updates quickly.
Is it based on a true story? There's no indication it is. The premise—two friends accidentally falling for each other while playing matchmakers—reads as original fiction, though the emotional specificity gives it a lived-in quality that feels like it could be.
Where can I actually watch it right now? Check the where-to-watch widget at the top of this page, or search Movie OTT for the most current platform listings by region. Availability shifts without much notice—short films in particular move between services or pop up as part of curated collections rather than standing alone in listings.
What to watch if you like this
If I Didn't Like You connects with you, you're probably into character-driven queer stories that don't spell everything out. Look for other short films in the same vein on Vimeo or festival circuits—they don't always make it to major streamers, but when they do, they tend to cluster. LGBTQ+ film festivals (Outfest, NYFF, Tribeca) are where shorts like this get discovered first.
Final thoughts
Twelve minutes. That's the ask. I Didn't Like You is the kind of short film that earns its place in a watch queue not by being loud, but by being quietly, precisely itself—a small romantic comedy-drama that knows exactly what it wants to say and doesn't take a detour getting there. If you're the kind of viewer who finds something satisfying about a story that respects your time, this one's worth the stop. It won't feel like a compromise; it'll feel like exactly the right length for what it's trying to do.
