Before I Fall – Unpopped Review
Synopsis:
Samantha has everything she could ever ask for: popular friends, a perfect guy, and a seemingly bright future. All that changes when she wakes up to the same morning as before. She now must relive the same day over and over, discovering the importance one day can have.
Review Summary:
Before I Fall is like Groundhog’s Day and Gossip Girl mixed together with a hint of Carrie. This sounds like an interesting combination and it does tell an important story for today’s high schoolers. However, those that have already graduated may find it too teen-angsty to be enjoyable.
The Good:
The acting. Everyone did a fantastic job in their roles. Starting with the first time Sam relived the day, Zoey Deutch perfectly expressed herself, from the her facial expressions to her demeanor. It perfectly displayed her confusion in the situation. Her three best friends are great as the popular mean girl, high school clique. Now, while they are all great, the main standout for me was Logan Miller as Kent. I don’t want to go too much into his character, but he’s basically the happy-go-lucky male friend and he does it perfectly. I see a very bright future for him in Hollywood and I’m really excited to see what he does next.
The moral. Before I Fall is perfect for today’s youth. It highlights bullying, teen sexuality, and suicide. It does it all in a relatively good manner that could connect with many high schoolers today.
The Ehh:
The high school melodrama. This is going to be what turns most people off. Before I Fall follows four rich seniors on Valentine’s Day as they navigate their classes, the lunchroom, and the party of the year. Seeing that once would have been bad. But, like Sam, the audience has to live through these teen angst filled days again and again and again. It gets old really quickly.
The Ugh-ly:
The resolution. For very obvious reasons I can’t give away the ending, but I just wanted to express my disappointment with it. Roughly 20 minutes into Before I Fall you can easily spot what needs to be done in order for Sam to move on from this day. Then when she finally decides to do it, she still manages to make some of the worst decisions possible. I can think of a number of different ways to accomplish the goal of the story without having the ending it did.
Verdict:
Overall Before I Fall is a decently made film with great acting. However, because of the specific audience and the less than satisfying ending, it will be less than satisfying for anyone outside the target audiences.
Wait Till Redbox
