Before I Fall

You’ve seen the central gimmick to “Before I Fall” several times before. “Groundhog Day”, “Edge of Tomorrow” and “50 First Dates” comes to mind. Nonetheless, this picture finds some new, fresh ways to explore the premise.

After a car crash, Samantha (Zoey Deutch) wakes up to find that she’s reliving the same day over and over. While attempting to “get the day right” and break the loop, she begins re-examining her friends, and herself.

It’s important to note that when the film begins, you’re not going to like Samantha and her clique of “Heathers”-like friends. That’s fine, as most of these Sisyphean tales are about flawed individuals who, through the process of figuring out how to move on, become better people. The young adult angle proves ideal for this type of character arc in a way that feels believable. Being a teenager, particularly one that's about to graduate high school is the time where you will reconsider everything; your clique of friends (which includes Lindsay Edgecombe, Cynthy Wu, and Medalion Rahimi), how you relate to your family, how your schoolmates will remember you, and more. It's a clever move to juxtapose high-school, which is ultimately just a blip in one’s life, with the eternity of a time loop. Giving us a female, teenaged protagonist also allows for fresh takes on the exploration of life's tough choices (including losing one's virginity) in a way that will speak to the intended audience.

 Spoiler alert - click to reveal textThere’s plenty of character development as we learn more about what brought each character to their current, ever-repeating state. Particularly interesting is the expansion of the members of Samantha's clique. In a less intelligent film, Samantha would do a 180; ditching the popular (I'll dare say [...]) girls and becoming besties with the misfits who truly understand what becoming an adult will mean… but the path Samantha takes is a better, more believable one. Director Ry Russo-Young and writer Maria Maggenti (I’ll also credit novelist Lauren Oliver, who wrote the original book) understand teenagers’ mentality and that honesty is compelling.

The film’s ending is where the picture is at its weakest; too melodramatic for my taste. I was just hoping for something more. "Before I Fall" earns itself a recommendation based on the journey Samantha goes through, the performances (Deutch goes to show off her chops in what is a multi-faceted role) and its adeptness to capture teenagers’ mindset without sinking into eye-rolling angst. (Theatrical version on the big screen, March 11, 2017)