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That’s “Before I Fall” in a nutshell. As a premise, an adaptation of the novel by Lauren Oliver sounded fantastic. I was ready to consume any movie based on a popular young adult novel that didn’t revolve around a dystopian setting, but rather an adolescent’s struggle. And the fact that the book is in fact a bestseller gave me a better hope. Most importantly, it had a female screenwriter, Maria Maggenti, and a female director, Ry Russo-Young. Attention: studios, This is how one makes a film that is intended for tween and teen girls without added emotional baggage. It can be done without the NZF stupefying, pandering, and heartbreaking or over villainizing some of the characters, even if there are a cliche or two.
The score is sad and somber which matches the supernatural undertones of this drama. The blue and gray scheme matches the mountains and woods of the Pacific Northwest which is filled with expensive contemporary mansions. The views are amazing while the sigh is overwhelmingly chilly. A voiceover explains, “Maybe for you, there’s a tomorrow. But for some of us, there’s only today,” while a high school senior, Sam Kingston, is observed standing up at 6:30 am on Feb 12, while a pop ballad plays on her phone. (No, not ‘I’ve Got You Babe’) Sam proceeds to ignore her parents and yells at her little sister before speeding out of her house, grabs a ride from her best friend Lindsay, while her and her friends pick up the rest of their privileged friends, smart Ally and wild child Elody.
Inside the SUV, it’s revealed that Sam has a rendezvous with boyfriend Rob (Kian Lawley) to lose her virginity that evening, and for this event Elody generously gifts a condom. This rite of passage is intended to conclude “Cupid Day,” a rather harsh annual ritual (that is sure to be disheartening for those outside the in crowd) in which students send roses and notes to each other. Who can fault the angry class lesbian (Liv Hewson) when she describes this custom as “the patriarchy’s heteronormative nightmare?”
Sam, of course, is one of those who takes full advantage of the program, and this time it is with a commanding bouquet. Love is supposed to be in the air, but the foursome tries their skills at taunting their most cherished punching bag, an artistic crazy eyed misfit named Juliet (Elena Kampouris) who constantly hides behind unkempt hair. At the same time, Sam ignores one rose giver, Kent (Logan Miller), who we eventually learn is a childhood friend that she now chooses to disregard for some unknown reason, despite his rather obvious obsession with her.
The events reach their peak at a rainy night party with kegs at Kent’s house, which is void of adults. The kegger takes a turn for the worse when Rob proves to be an intoxicated brute who proceeds to throw up in a sink. Lindsay pours beer over Juliet’s head and verbally abuses her when she calls her a “bitch,” and it goes from bad to tragic when all four girls seemingly die in a car crash, where the vehicle flips after hitting an unknown object.
Out of nowhere, we see Sam wake up the same time, the same day, the same song once more. Over and over. At first, she denies it as though she was dreaming. But then she and her friends avoid the party and the accident. Neither of them want to go. But still, the day has to be repeated. Then she gets mad, puts on a revealing dress and acts however she pleases. No matter how much violence or extreme stunts she pulls, it does not matter, as there are no consequences. And she will come to find out, much to Sam’s bewilderment, that there’s a possibility she could change her perspective and consider how she actually interacts with the whole of her family parents, sister, friends, those she considered neutral, or even worse, infringing bullies.
The details of how to break this cycle of never-ending repetition is quite ambiguous, and this can be annoying for certain people. But with her long reddish brown hair and delicate pale features that resembles those collectible Madame Alexander dolls, along with some well controlled acting, Dutch is able to make us care about what happens to Sam and her friends. But most importantly, she and Miller manage to ignite the screen together and deliver some of the most heartbreaking parts of the film. But romance won’t solve the puzzle of the story. Sisterhood will.
Gradually, Magento’s screenplay offers just enough inspiring background of history so that even the nasty key players are not out of the picture for us and understand that they are suffering too.
I give kudos to whoever decided to cast Jennifer Beals as Sam’s mother, the only adult character that has an actual influence. I found it funny, although I do not know if it was intentional, that along with other sleeping attires Sam owns a T shirt with a ripped neckline. Strangely reminiscent of that sweatshirt with the torn collar that caused a famous scene in “Flashdance,” right? And also, it is clever to notice that the only teacher that appears on the screen is the one giving a lecture on a myth of Sisyphus, the man who was condemned to roll a rock up a hill endlessly. And yes, it is funny when the lecturer says in his class that Sisyphus is not a name for an STD. At least the first time he says it.
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