Director: Ry Russo-Young Studio: Open Road Pictures Genre(s): Drama Rated: PG-13 (For mature thematic content involving drinking, sexuality, bullying, some violent images, and language-all involving teens) |
It’s sort of funny to think that the story of “Groundhog Day”
would eventually become its own genre in and of itself. It’s also funny to think that it took so long
for its day to come because you can do so much with that premise. Yes, the idea of someone who gets trapped in
a time loop and forced to relive the same day repeatedly is itself a novel
idea, but if you want to dig a little deeper you never know what you can
find. “Before I Fall” is a tween version
of the story in which a young girl is forced to relive a day of tragedy in a
constant loop. The whole idea is for her
to live through the day, understand what needs to be changed, and surpassingly
make that important change so that others may have a second chance to live a
meaningful life.
What might make the stakes here a little more tragic is that Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch) dies at the end of the day every time. It must drive her crazy knowing that she is forced to relive the same day over and over with the knowledge that she will die in the same car crash every time. For that matter, having to go through the same day every day means that she starts to really put her life into perspective. She is more aware of the kind boy who gives her a surprise flower every day and who may just be a lot nicer than the current boyfriend she has. She hangs with her friends and starts to find their jokes shallow and mean spirited. However, on other versions of the same day, she learns more about her friend’s past, which means we sort of understand why they act as shallow as they do. They put on a show for the world because they don’t want the world to know what they really are: scared kids.
When the movie begins, we assume Lindsay Edgecombe (Halston
Sage) is a class a bitch for how she treats others and talks about them. As the film progresses we slowly start to
learn about her past. We find out she
reacted to certain situations in very bad ways.
Though we can’t agree with her, we understand that teenagers react to
tragedy in different ways, and she reacted the only way she knew how at the time. By reliving the same day, Samantha realizes
this, and learns things about herself and other people she really wouldn’t have
thought to ask before. She even goes
through a serious rebellious stage only to find that living for yourself
without the fear of consequences brings her no more pleasure than living them
with. If this were a Christian film, you’d
think God was putting her on trial and forcing her to realize that, despite
everything, she is secretly a good person.
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, I suspect this movie was originally supposed to be rated R before the studio got cold feet and released it with a PG-13. Never-the-less, there are still many scenes of drinking, cursing, talking about having sex (actually having some in a few cases), and violent images. Certain scenes that would normally have nudity keep private parts covered, but the gesture is enough to make you wonder. Recommended for ages 15 and up.
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