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That is, “Before I Fall” in a nutshell. I was ready to embrace any film based on the popular young adult novel that did not feature a dystopian world and instead encompassed an adolescent minefield. Furthermore, the fact that the adaptation of the bestseller by Lauren Oliver had a female screenwriter (Maria Maggenti) and a female director (Ry Russo-Young) was impressive. Attention studios: This is how to guarantee there is a genuine emotional center to a story directed primarily towards teenage girls, one that genuinely isn’t pandering or preaching or super overtly villainizing, even though there is some degree of a cliché or two.
The mood of this otherworldly supernatural melodrama is dark and set with an eerie undertone. This matches the chilly blue-grey color scheme that is suitable for the damp, woodsy, and mountainous region of the Pacific Northwest where modern pricey mansions are in abundance and the views are breathtaking. A voiceover tells us, “Maybe for you, there’s a tomorrow. But for some of us, there’s only today.” While this plays, we see high-school senior Sam Kingston (played by Zoey Deutch of “Vampire Academy”) activated by her pop ballad alarm, set for 6:30 a.m. on 12th February. This is not the typical “I’ve Got You Babe” scenario. Ignoring both of her parents, she explodes at her cute sister before exiting the house to catch a ride with her queen-bee BFF Lindsay, played by Halston Sage of “Paper Towns” fame. The duo then meets the rest of their privileged gang smart alley (Cynthy Wu) and psychotic Elody (Medalion Rahimi).
Sam has a date with her boyfriend Rob (Kian Lawley) and is getting ready to lose her virginity that night. Elody, her friend, knows what’s up and gives Sam a condom for the occasion. This special day is known as “Cupid Day,” a holiday where students cruelly send roses and special messages to one another. As much as people try to normalize it, the outspoken class lesbian (Liv Hewson) claims it is a “heteronormative hell.”
What’s worse is that it is executed in the most cliche way possible. Even Sam, with her grumpy face, is handed a bouquet of roses. Yes, everyone loved the idea of “Cupid Day,” except for the outcast, the hair-covered artist known as Juliet (Elena Kampouris). While these girls quietly ignored the other rose-giver, Kent (Logan Miller), Sam was giving him the cold shoulder, who we later find out is actually a she has a childhood crush on.
Things get out of hand at a drunken night kegger hosted at Kent’s house, which lacks parental supervision. Everything goes downhill from Rob being a drunken mess and throwing up in the sink, to Lindsay verbally fighting with Juliet and hitting her with beer after being called a “bitch.” Things go from bad to worse when the group of friends appear to die in a car crash after their vehicle rolls over from hitting an unseen object.
As if on replay, Sam wakes up to the same song on repeat. At first, her first thoughts upon waking up are: was this all a dream? No, something must be done to get rid of this cursed day. She stays away from the party, helps someone with their accident and is pleasant with her friends. After performing these actions, she still ends up repeating the day. Frustration sets in, and she gives into temptation, wearing an overly revealing dress and acting in every way she desires irrespective of how wrong it may be. She feels no remorse for her actions because there are no consequences to face. Realization, however, begins to seep in with the understanding that love and care needs to be showered not just on her parents and sister but also on friends whom she has bullied and been indifferent towards.
Admittedly, some may complain that the reasoning behind breaking out of this repetitive loop is never fully explained. However, Deutch manages to make the viewers sympathize with Sam and her friends. Featuring nicely proportioned delicate pale features alongside long red-brown hair like that of Madame Alexander dolls helps, but it’s her acting that helps sell the deal. Sam and her companion Miller give some of the most beautiful scenes in the film filled with raw emotion. She and her friends though do not hold the answer to this lingering question… it is siblinghood that finally breaks the spell of romance.
Slowly but surely, Maggenti’s screenplay gives motivational context for even the most unpleasant of key players to help us understand their struggles and pain so we don’t dismiss them completely.
I don’t know who decided that Jennifer Beals would play the role of Sam’s mother, but I applaud that choice. It seems like it may have been a coincidence, but I found it funny that a part of Sam’s pajama wardrobe is a T-shirt whose neckline is just ripped enough to be interesting, reminiscent of that sweatshirt with a torn collar that enabled the noteworthy scene in ‘Flashdance.’ Also, the only teacher in the film is lecturing about the myth of Sisyphus, who is eternally condemned to roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down again. And yes, it is funny when the lecturer explains to the class that Sisyphus does not mean an STD. At least, not the first time he says it.
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