Phil Roberts 
Josh Boone’s Regretting You is a charming rom-com with a heartbreaking twist. But it quickly slips into the formulaic rom-com trope and plods along to its poignant but generic conclusion.
We all have our favorite rom-coms. Whether it’s Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, or the classic Dirty Dancing, we all have a go-to classic to crack open a tub of ice cream for on a Friday night. But a change has happened in recent years with directors altering the formula to inject some much-needed drama and depth into the genre. Materialists recently tried to change the formula with its slick, sexy, and edgy hijinks, but in the end, it quickly defaulted to the tried and tested checklist.
The latest film to attempt to inject the genre with more substance is Regretting You. Based on the book by Colleen Hoover and directed by Josh Boone, the film has all the hallmarks of an instant classic. With an incredible cast boasting the talents of McKenna Grace, Mason Thames, Allison Williams, and Dave Franco, the film is set to hit our cinema screens on October 24th. But can this adaptation truly take the rom-com genre to new heights? Or have we seen it all before?
REVIEW
Fear not, dear readers, because Josh Boone’s Regretting You is a charming rom-com with a heartbreaking twist. McKenna Grace, Mason Thames, Dave Franco, and Allison Williams all perform well and add some much-needed depth to the material. But sadly, it quickly slips into the formulaic rom-com trope and plods along to its poignant but generic conclusion. Overall, it’s heartwarming but wafer-thin fun that won’t linger in memory beyond its initial buzz, which is a real shame. The film has a wealth of talent that delivers great performances, with McKenna Grace and Mason Thames especially shining. But in the end, the film cannot overcome the genre stereotypes and ultimately ticks every box expected.
THE PLOT
For the opening montage, the film introduces us to the adults who will carry this new adaptation forward. We meet the characters of Dave Franco, Allison Williams, Scott Eastwood, and Willa Fitzgerald as teens and quickly learn that they are all with the wrong partners. Both couples hold deep-seated admiration for each other, but keep their feelings secret. However, the sudden revelation that Morgan (Williams) is pregnant with Chris’ (Scott Eastwood) baby curtails any further debate about who their true love is, and the reality of life takes over.
Fast forward seventeen years, and we meet Clara (McKenna Grace), Morgan and Chris’s daughter, who is about to leave school and head off to college. But in the ultimate twist of teenage melodrama, her school crush, Miller (Mason Thames), happens to be camped on the side of the road in need of assistance — just as she drives past. Queue the traditional forbidden teenage love angle, a chance meeting that is immediately frowned upon by her parents but is endorsed to a degree by her bestie, Aunt Jenny.
DEATH AND FORBIDDEN LOVE
However, their peaceful family life is shattered when Chris and Jenny are tragically killed in a car accident. With their life in ruins, Morgan, Jonah (Franco), and Clara struggle to keep things together as they plan two funerals. Clara retreats into the arms of Miller, while Jonah and Morgan discover that their respective partners were involved in a passionate affair and were returning from a romantic encounter. With the revelation threatening to destroy Clara’s memory of her father, Jonah and Morgan decide to keep the truth from her, all the while rekindling their feelings for each other.
What follows is a box-ticking exercise that only serves to unravel any freshness the formula had, returning it to the tried-and-tested stereotypes the genre is famous for. Clara’s relationship with her mother reaches a breaking point as their trust in each other deteriorates, while her feelings for Miller grow stronger. Meanwhile, Jonah and Morgan grapple with their unresolved emotions, prompting the audience to revisit the familiar will-they, won’t-they dynamic. Clara also engages in a rebellious attempt to score points against her mother for moving on from her father so quickly…and Jonah questions the validity of his son’s biology.
MORE DRAMA
Throw in a bunch of teenage melodrama, two star-crossed teenagers falling in and out of love, and some uncomfortable sex scenes with youngsters into the mix, and the film plays out to its inevitable, underwhelming conclusion. While I generally enjoy a good romantic comedy, this film fails to offer anything new or engaging; it presents themes and situations that we have all seen before — and executed in a much better way. The familial bonds between Morgan and Clara feel absent, the forbidden love between Morgan and Jonah seems forced, and the teenage romance feels entirely generic.
Even the pacing of the film feels off. The main characters fluctuate between battling depression and experiencing romantic euphoria in a matter of moments. The timeline of events becomes quickly muddled, making it seem like the story unfolds over weeks, only to reveal that it actually takes place within just a few days. Bizarrely, the characters change clothes multiple times during this short period, which gives the impression that the timeline is longer than it truly is. Morgan even begins to decorate the family home, removing many of her husband’s belongings, and this manifests all within days of his funeral! It’s all a bit bizarre, and the context doesn’t clear the mud from the water until the finale.
POSITIVES
While the plot is generic and wafer-thin, the performances more than make up for any disappointment. In my review of Ghostbusters Afterlife, I praised McKenna Grace for her performance, singling her out as a rising talent, and she has more than lived up to the hype here. In Clara, she has found a character of conviction, depth, and empathy, and Grace brings her talent to the fore with an impressively mature performance. The role demands the maturity of a young adult with the vulnerability of a child, and Grace masters the balance brilliantly. It truly is an exceptional showing from the actor, and I cannot wait to see where she applies her talent next.
Matching her brilliance step for step is the always impressive Mason Thames. After two outstanding performances in How to Train Your Dragon and The Black Phone 2, Thames goes above and beyond to eclipse his past efforts to deliver a character of genuine depth and compassion. In Miller, Thames has found a character that allows him to show his full range, and on this showing, I look forward to his role as Hollywood’s next leading man.
SUPPORTING CAST
Leading the supporting cast is the always reliable Allison Williams, who effectively portrays Grace’s emotionally tormented mother. Although the role is unforgiving, especially in its emotional depth, Williams rises above the script’s failing to deliver a well-rounded performance. Although her emotional impact leaves a lot to be desired, her grasp on the character leaves the audience rooting for her when the chips are down, and that is the hallmark of an actor at the top of their game. Just imagine what she could have achieved with a better screenplay!
And finally, Dave Franco dialls in a perfectly serviceable performance as Morgan’s grieving love interest, Jonah. Unlike the rest of the cast, Franco isn’t given much to do here aside from serving as the film’s pouting jilted love interest. When he hits his stride, we empathize with his character and the heartbreak he must be feeling, but the screenplay never gives him the time to add any genuine weight to the loss, making his performance feel superfluous…pretty much like the rest of the film.
VERDICT
Overall, Regretting You is a disappointing yet serviceable rom-com. Any initial freshness the film brings is quickly eroded by the stereotypical checklist the genre is famous for. What’s left is a generic teenage melodrama wrapped up in some depthless emotional yearning that amounts to very little. Thankfully, the brilliance of McKenna Grace and Mason Thames gives us something to enjoy and ponder as the film plods along to its inevitable conclusion. But sadly, there isn’t anything new to speak of here, and if it weren’t for the excellence of its cast, the film would be an easy two-star affair.
Instead, Grace and Thames earn the film an extra star. It may not be a deserved reward, but when a movie is this flimsy, we should celebrate the positives. So, book a ticket, order an extra ice cream, and settle in for a night of heartwarming depression. Let the initial emotional impact of the story overwhelm you before it all unravels into a melodramatic box-ticking exercise. You won’t regret watching it, but its impact won’t linger after the credits roll.
Regretting You will bring the love to the cinemas from Friday. Will you be taking your loved one to this movie? Drop a comment in the chat below.
Meet Phil Roberts! He’s the dedicated owner, daily content manager, and editor-in-chief of The Future of the Force. Phil is a budding novelist who turned his passion toward writing about the franchises he loves back in 2016. He’s a huge fan of all things Star Wars, Batman, DC, Marvel, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, King Kong, and the Ray Harryhausen movies. Phil is a BFI-accredited journalist and a distinguished member of the Film Critics Association UK.
If he’s not catching a movie at the cinema, you can bet he’s streaming something just as awesome!
