Netflix's latest holiday romantic comedy Love Hard leans heavily into the love triangle trope. After traveling across the country to surprise her new boyfriend Josh (Jimmy O. Yang), Natalie (Nina Dobrev) discovers that she's been catfished. To make matter worse Josh used pictures of his cousin Tag (Darren Barnet) who lives in the same town as them. Natalie finds herself pursuing Tag while Josh watches from the sidelines.
Though catfishing is manipulative and terrible in the real world, Love Hard makes it look okay by turning Josh into a charismatic and caring character. He admits his mistake and even helps Natalie try to win over his cousin. In the end, Josh and Natalie do end up together because of the hard work he put into showing Natalie why he's the best boyfriend.
He Was Open About His Personality
While Josh catfished Natalie in the appearance department, he didn't pretend to be someone else with her. When they first started talking, Josh never shied away from being his goofy self. In fact, he regularly initiated their funny text exchanges which included sending each other pictures of famous Dick's in history instead of sexting.
Since Josh didn't lie about who he was on the inside, it was easier for Natalie to come to terms with what he did lie about. He even trusts Natalie enough to let her know about his secret candle-making hobby/business venture.
He Liked Her Personality & Looks
Natalie may not have been initially attracted to Josh when she learned about the catfishing but Josh didn't have that problem. It was clear from their texting that Josh was instantly smitten with Natalie's looks and personality.
Even when Natalie was yelling at him for lying to her, Josh never once seemed like he was not interested in Natalie. And it's not just Natalie's look but also her quirky personality that drew Josh in.
He Supports Her
Josh may have started his relationship with Natalie on a lie but he spent every second after that trying to make it up to her. The biggest way he did this was by supporting her blindly.
Though it's clear that Josh likes Natalie, he doesn't get in the way of her pursuing Tag. In fact, Josh actively helps Natalie get closer to Tag and even helps her overcome some of her fears in the process. Beyond that, Josh also dreams up an entirely new version of "Baby It's Cold Outside" when Natalie mentions its problematic lyrics while caroling.
He Was Open With Her About His Family Struggles
Natalie didn't know much about Josh's family when she decided to fly across the country to surprise him for the holidays but she was quickly thrust into the family immediately.
It's clear from the start that Josh doesn't have the best relationship with his family. Instead of trying to sugarcoat his problems, he confides in Natalie the minute he gets her alone. While there might have been some selfish reasons for telling her the truth, all that really matters is that he told her about his family struggles.
They Have Fun Together
Being physically attracted to a significant other is important, but what matters, even more, is if they can have fun together. Natalie and Josh might not always see eye to eye but they definitely are always having fun.
The best example of this is when Josh and Natalie spend the early hours of the morning collecting the newspapers in town that have their engagement announcement printed in it. Even their arguments are dealt with in fun ways which makes them an iconic weird Netflix movie couple.
He Was Willing To Do Things She Wanted To Do
One of the biggest reasons why Natalie and Tag don't work out is because he never asks her what she wants to do. All Tag cares about is doing activities he likes which happen to be things Natalie hates to do, which makes them a dysfunctional Netflicx movie couple.
While Josh and Natalie don't do a lot of things outside of celebrating the holidays with his family, it's clear that Josh is open to doing things Natalie wants to do. He doesn't force her to like his hobbies
He Remembers Things About Her
Another important trait for a great significant other is remembering things about the person they're with. This is an area Josh truly excels in even though he's only been talking to Natalie for a few weeks.
The best example of this is when Natalie casually mentions that she is allergic to coconut while talking with Josh. Later, Natalie takes a shot that contained coconut and Josh immediately springs into action, racing her to the doctor after administering her EpiPen.
He Makes Her Laugh
Physical attraction can only go so far which is why it's great that Josh also knows how to make Natalie laugh. In fact, his humor is one of the reasons Natalie ends up choosing Josh in the end.
Whether it's making her laugh to talk her down from having a meltdown at the indoor rock climbing place to the two of them discussing Christmas classics, Natalie is always laughing when she's around Josh. That's a major plus for her since she's usually miserable when she's on dates and getting to know men.
They Have Things In Common
Josh may have lied but he spends the rest of the movie making up for that one lie but showing Natalie all his redeeming qualities. However, the reason these two end up together is really that they have a lot in common.
They both are unhappy with their professional lives, have trouble dating, and genuinely have the same opinions on things and have similar interests.