Is Yara Shahidi’s ‘Sitting in Bars with Cake’ based on a true story?

As weird as it sounds, Amazon Prime’s newest romance movie, Sitting in Bars with Cake, actually might have some element of truth to it. The film is based on a book of the same name by Audrey Shulman which itself was adapted from Shulman’s own blog. It stars Yara Shahidi, (Peter Pan and Wendy) Odessa A’zion, (Hellraiser) Bette Midler, and Ron Livingston.

The plot follows Jane, (Shahidi) who realizes that bringing cakes to bars results in swarms of men approaching her. Jane’s friend Corinne, (A’zion) convinces her to spend a year baking cakes and taking them to bars in an effort to find true love, something the pair label ‘cakebarring.’ From the trailer alone, it’s obvious that there’s a lot more to the story as it promises to show all the highs and lows of Jane’s and Corinne’s life.

So the trailer advertises it as a true story, but whose story is it? And how much of it is actually true?

Well, the original blog and subsequent book by Audrey Shulman were based on the author’s actual experiences. Shulman started the strange but sweet dating strategy at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 after the cake she brought to a friend’s birthday party resulted in Shulman speaking to “more guys in an hour than I had all year.” In an interview with the Los Angeles Times back in 2013, the author went into more detail about her true cakebarring experiences.

Someone I met cakebarring told me L.A. is a horrible place for dating, as the predominant emotion in this city is desperation. I thought this was pretty hysterical, although after offering cake to hundreds of people this year, I wouldn’t really agree. L.A. is full of sweet and creative guys, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet a bunch of them.

Of course, some differences have been made in the movie adaptation. The film’s protagonist is called Jane, rather than being given the author’s real name. It’s a pretty ineffectual change with regard to the events of the story. However, for the most part, the movie events closely match the book, which matches the blog, which matches Shulman’s actual life, right down to her friend, unfortunately, being diagnosed with brain cancer.

Whilst you could find out how the movie ends by looking up details about Shulman’s life, perhaps it would be better to go into the movie adaptation blind when it drops on streaming next month.

Sitting in Bars with Cake is set to release on Prime Video on Sep. 8.