Despite my typical aversion to Colleen Hoover, from her mediocre writing to flawed promotion of toxic relationships, the trailer convinced me this film could be different. Put simply, it seemed the writers may actually have reworked the source material into something somewhat entertaining.
I was, as it turns out, mistaken.
Starring the likes of Mckenna Grace and Dave Franco, the film follows the strained relationship of mother Morgan and daughter Clara, both navigating grief following a tragic family car accident alongside new romances. Yet, the extent to which these romances are actually ‘romantic’ is questionable. Indeed, to say “you’re the best sibling I never had” is a real line between lovers is gag-worthy at best (and not in the Alex Consani way), and that’s not even talking about the emotional cheating undercutting both the film’s main romances—without concerning the central infidelity plot.
Furthermore, what Regretting You perhaps fails in most is in its pacing. Despite its nearly 2 hours runtime, this clearly wasn’t sufficient enough to grant any build-up within the teenagers’ romance. While Morgan and her love interest Jonah are over 18 years in the making, Clara and Miller’s romance seems implausibly sudden, and unresolved as to whether the characters actually spoke prior, or just admired from a distance.
But that isn’t to say the film lacks any and all sorts of endearing moments. Certainly, when accompanied by friends (and an empty enough cinema to get away with a few giggles) this movie provides the perfect cringefest for sufficient entertainment. Also, it would be criminal not to acknowledge Mckenna Grace and Mason Thames’ undeniable chemistry as Clara and Miller, attesting to the actors’ adorable off-screen romance.
Overall, not a total skip, but certainly not a film I’ll be returning back to anytime soon.
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