Regretting You – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Regretting You – In Love, Loss and Pain: An Introspective Of Life

In the eyes of wonder, what is it that you hope to find?  From simple pleasures to the crossroads of chance, we look at life with a lens of one angle … but forget the next.  From existence to probability, the journey we step upon becomes a matter of who we want to be.  The stories of life provide a window of genuine escape, and if done right in film … it can feel as real as your everyday.  In this review, i look at the latest life drama to hit the big screen.  Through love and loss, we head on a journey of individual purpose.  Even with some lacking elements, Regretting You is an introspective into how loss can breed a new perspective on life.

When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter will have to find a way to move forward, even if secrets might shatter certain truths.  In lifestyle dramas, there is always a point where reality and convenience collide.  For all the hopes of wanting to ‘feel’ something, there is a forward momentum that must take place.  With this latest adaptation, it is a mix of genuine emotions and melodrama.  In the beginning, we get a quick flashback before we move into the present, finding that two high school lovers married and have been raising a child for the last 17 years.  Within this dynamic is the mother’s sister, who gets back together with her high school lover as they are raising a newborn.  After some general conversational scenes, tragedy strikes when Morgan’s (Allison Grant) husband and sister die.  From here, the film leads into an emotional journey that involves her daughter Clara (Mckenna Grace) and Sister’s Fiancé, Jonah (Dave Franco).  As the film moves along, it becomes a roller coaster of melodramatic scenes that build up through personal revelations, uncovered secrets and teenage angsts.  As the three try to ‘cope’ with the tragedy individually, the blindness of loss drives an uncertainty of choice.  Morgan, Clara and Jonah all have unique stakes in the aftermath, but also an unknown that strikes through an introspective of human tragedy.  That crossroads of truth with the melodrama provides a place where that convenience and reality collide (as mentioned earlier), creating a place where you feel for the characters to a degree. 

As certain things start to come to light, confusion and angst bring about a rawness that shines through the mother/daughter relationship.  Morgan and Clara’s scenes create an emotional reverie, providing a relative spark within the melodramatic sequences and overtly predictable dialogue.  As push comes to shove, certain domino’s fall, leading to a full circle third act and a finale that is ironically wholesome even if it is partially telegraphed.  Regretting You is a melodrama that gives perspective on coping with loss.  If you are a fan of the book, drama of lifestyle films, there is enough here for a good time.  For everyone else, I say check it on the big screen at the right price.

Full Score – 3 out of 5 (Theater Discount)