In life, one always has the option of just being nice. With the endearing SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner Shithouse – an overtly sensitive college-campus drama that riffs on the sub-genre of conversation-driven romance films like Before Midnight – and now with Cha Cha Real Smooth, writer/director/star Cooper Raif has proven this to be his modus operadi. Raif’s second feature is an unironically nice film about a recent college grad who falls for the attractive – and engaged – mom of a middle schooler with autism. The kind-hearted temperament of Raif’s films are disarmingly genuine, if skirting the line with being almost – to put it in middle school terms – lame. But for those who can vibe on Raif’s decidedly kind wavelengths, Cha Cha Real Smooth is a feel-good crowdpleaser – with enough complications to keep things interesting.

In both films, Raif (who also stars) presents himself in a slightly unflattering light: immature, overly, sensitive, a bit of a dweeb. But considerate. Kind. Wise in some ways beyond his years. Utterly clueless in others. In Cha Cha Real Smooth, Andrew (Raif) finds himself in much the same place that Benjamin Braddock did after graduating from university. Aimless, disillusioned, back living with his mom. Seduced by an older woman.

In this instance, that older woman is Domino and she’s played by the alluring Dakota Johnson, using her signature smoky drawl to draw Andrew closer into conversation. But Domino isn’t a vacuous seductress in the way that Mrs. Robinson is and is imbued even more complexity and emotional depth than Andrew. Andrew meets his would-be siren and her daughter Lola (Vanessa Burkhardt) at a Bar Mitzvah where he discovers both a new flirtatious friend in Domino and an unforeseen work opportunity as a “party starter” after getting the sluggish crowd of 13-year olds all up on their feet and having a ball. Needless to say, it’s a significant upgrade from his gig selling corn dogs at the mall.

Falling closer into each other’s orbit, Andrew and the betrothed Domino experiment with the boundaries of their affection. Cha Cha Real Smooth asks the audience to consider the vastness in life experience between ones 20’s and 30’s with the hopelessly romantic Andrew ruminating on “soul mates” while Domino considers more pragmatic responsibilities like stability, commitment.

The easy chemistry between Raif and Johnson sells their budding relationship but also helps define what keeps it in stasis. Parked in the “forbidden” lot, perhaps never to pass “Go”. Yearning, Andrew leans into the wide-eyed optimism of capital “L” Love. He wants the whole package – her not-that-much-younger-than-him daughter included. Sensible, Domino lives voraciously through Andrew’s youth, his uninhibited sense of possibility becoming an aphrodisiac in itself. She wants to mop up his unfiltered affection before the clang of wedding bells but she also wants to make sure that she’s committing for the right reasons. The fact that these characters flirt with infidelity while remaining almost offensively pleasant is a testament to Raif’s ability to keep the tone exactly where he wants it.

Cha Cha Real Smooth may not feature too much dramatic fancy footwork but it dances to the beat of Raif’s unironic nice-core drum and goes down incredibly easy. The sincerity with which the 24-year-old writer/director/star attacks his stories in endearing to the point of being moving, particularly as it applies to Andrew’s doting relationship with his mom (Leslie Mann) and kid brother (Evan Assante). Raif’s approach is brazenly sentimental without being saccharine, in a way that often feels impossible for other films to manage.

CONCLUSION: An unironically sweet, thoughtful movie about a 20-something discovering purpose after graduating college, ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ is an achingly romantic relationship movie that updates the bones of ‘The Graduate’ for the Zoomer generation.