Maintenance Required – Review and Summary
The leads’ romances compensate for a lack of depth amongst the majority of characters.
Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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“Maintenance Required” Film Details
- Runtime: 1 Hour(s) and 42 Minutes
- Released On: Prime Video
- Public Release Date: October 8, 2025
- Director(s): Lacey Uhlemeyer
- Writer(s): Erin Falconer, Lacey Uhlemeyer, Roo Berry
- Based On Work By: Erin Falconer, Lacey Uhlemeyer
- Primary Language: English
- Genre(s): Comedy, Romance, Young Adult
- Rating: Rated PG-13
- Distributor: Prime Video
- Official Site Link
Movie Summary
With Charlie fully dedicated to her dad’s auto shop and fixing cars, her personal life, love life in particular, has not gotten much attention. Her employees, turned friends, Kam and Izzy, try to get her out there, but Charlie is very selective about the human relationships she has.
Enter Beau, someone also into cars, mainly EVs over the classic gasoline cars Charlie is into, and the two talk over a car forum. But, they end up coming face to face, under less than ideal circumstances, as Beau’s employer, Miller Boys, moves down the street from Charlie’s shop, and may potentially run her out of business.
Leading to the question, can the relationship built online for months, if not longer, survive Beau being cute, mentally stimulating, but ultimately working for the company that wants to cause Charlie, Kam, and Izzy to lose what they’ve built up?
Cast and Characters
Charlie (Madelaine Petsch)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Charlie is the second-generation owner and mechanic of O’Malley’s, and she absolutely loves working on cars. Classic cars are her real focus, and she dreams of either transforming O’Malley’s or opening a second shop, focused on just restoring classic cars – a hobby her dad shared, which was the initial spark that got her into cars.
Kam (Katy O’Brian)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Kam is one of Charlie’s friends and employees, who is one of her mechanics.
Izzy (Madison Bailey)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Izzy is Charlie’s receptionist, who would really love it if Charlie gave her space in the building to have a small nail shop. Also, style-wise, she is Kam’s opposite by being ultra girly.
Beau (Jacob Scipio)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Beau is Charlie’s love interest, who has a passion for cars, like her, but more so the future of cars in EVs, rather than classic cars.
Mr. Miller (Jim Gaffigan)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: The CEO of Miller Boys, Mr. Miller, surrounds himself not only with beautiful women, but also with women far smarter than him to actually keep the business going and expanding. But, considering the things he says, it should be assumed the women are paid well to ignore the things he says and his general ignorance.
Jordan (Matteo Lane)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Jordan is Beau’s only friend, who runs a local plant shop, and is quite obsessed with them.
What To Expect In “Maintenance Required” (Rated PG-13) – Content Overview
- Dialog:
- Cursing: Occasional
- Miscellaneous:
- Drinking: Yes
Review and Commentary
Highlight(s)
You’ll Get Behind The Idea Of Beau and Charlie Being Together [83/100]
At first, it does feel like Charlie and Beau are simply another set of hot actors paired together with just enough chemistry to justify casting. However, in time, the two will grow on you. It’s in the banter, sarcastic, sometimes mean-spirited as it is, that has you give them a second look. I would even say, them reconciling who they saw each other as online, compared to who they are in real life, can be of interest, especially considering how much online dating dominates how people get into relationships.
But I think what really pulls you in is the recognition that both were at the cusp of starting a new chapter of their lives, and they supported one another in pursuing their dreams, rather than making the best of reality. By adding this layer, showing the investment is beyond physical attraction, having them share a similar passion, be excited to talk about it, and accepting who the other person was, it made everything about these beyond-average-looking people struggling in dating something you could get behind, never mind seeing them as a couple you want to see make it.
Even if sometimes Beau got on your last nerve.
On The Fence
Supporting Characters Feel Underdeveloped [74/100]
Characters in Maintenance Required don’t have much in the way of depth. Charlie’s love for cars comes from her father, and her whole identity is wrapped up in fixing cars, with classic cars being one of her top-tier focuses. Beau also likes cars, though mostly EVs, but it is never pushed that it is for the environment or him taking it to any level, which makes it sound meaningful.
Which could be a problem for those who want Maintenance Required to be more than a basic romantic comedy. Whether it is the odd, if not creepy, Mr. Miller, and his COO and CFO being presented like his assistants, despite likely being the real brains of Miller Boys, or even Jordan, Beau’s only friend, who you would love to know how their relationship came to be, the film avoids character development in any meaningful way.
Heck, even with Kam and Izzy, who have the bulk of Charlie’s scenes, like most, you just learn about what they do, not who they are. Kam works on cars, is apparently heterosexual, and has a roster, but what got them into cars? Why did they choose to work for Charlie? That’s not gone into.
The same goes for Izzy. She is the receptionist and has an interest in doing nails, maybe even as a full-on business, which leads you to wonder why she ended up at O’Malley’s? You’re telling me that Charlie’s dad and everyone who worked for him just up and left when he died? That Charlie has no one from his regime?
Granted, are any of these questions top-tier important, considering Maintenance Required is geared towards being a rom-com? No. But, it is always nice when it is clear that a movie isn’t just about its leads eventually making out, gyrating on each other, but also about their platonic relationships as well.
Lack of World Building [73/100]
One of the things spoken about a lot is the community that Charlie is in or a part of, but I wouldn’t say Maintenance Required makes much of an effort to present O’Malley’s as part of a community. There are long-time customers we’re told, but we rarely meet any or get a sense of them coming back since Charlie does good work like her dad did. Heck, even when things get bad, Izzy may get a news crew out there, but you don’t see neighbors showing up to talk, even Charlie’s parts supplier, to make it seem she isn’t isolated.
It just further pushes the idea that Maintenance Required didn’t have a strong inclination regarding truly building out the world Charlie and Beau exist in, so you get a full sense of what is lost when a local business closes shop due to a chain undercutting them and running them out of town.
Overall
Our Rating (76/100): Mixed (Divisive)
Maintenance Required succeeds in giving us a cute couple in Charlie and Beau, but it could be submitted that the world they live in, the people who fill their lives, are there just to fill out the story and weren’t invested in to be seen as individuals. You could even say, at times, despite the possibility of deeper themes that could be explored, from how chains crush small businesses, female-run businesses especially, that Maintenance Required avoids any means it could have shown depth.
Yet, despite the criticism, it remains an entertaining film to watch, and for those into romance, it can provide enough until the next great romantic movie comes along.
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