Rosaline (2022)

I enjoy the conceit of exploring the perspectives of minor characters from literature, whether its Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead or The Wide Sargasso Sea, these narratives from another point of view can be interesting explorations of stories in need of something new. Rosaline isn't really in that league but there is an interesting kernel in there that plays with many of the problems and questions raised by Shakespeare's most famous play. Rosaline takes the rom-com aesthetic to tell an irreverent, anachronistic riff on Romeo and Juliet. And it ends up being a lot. of fun. 

Much of this success lays on the shoulders of lead Dever who is incredibly funny and has great screen presence. The film leans into the silly, often appears rather self-aware, and plays out like a modern rom-com would. It bears little resemblance to a Shakespeare adaptation (except for the costumes and art direction) and much more like a teen romantic comedy, even down the gay best friend trope. And while it's cliched it's also really fun and funny. Which is what we would hope for in any rom-com. 

But I think I enjoyed it even more because of its connections to the tale of famous star-crossed lovers. Romeo and Juliet is many things but it is not a happy story. There is a lot of death and ruined lives that lay in the wake of teen love in this tale. Normally we think little of the (usually) unseen and only mentioned first love, but on reflection she dodges quite the bullet because of her loss of Romeo's fickle affection. She struggles with much of what Juliet does, from the lack of agency of women of her era to navigating the politics of the time. But she gets the happy ending Juliet wanted, and perhaps she does because of being on the sidelines. There is this interesting idea in there about how being on the margins provides opportunities that might not exist in the spotlight. 

Rosaline also gets some fun jabs in at its source material, touching, if admittedly lightly, on some of the problems arising in the play. And Rosaline gets a better deal out of it all. It is a cheeky film, even going so far as to "fix" the ending for our Romeo and his Juliet. So a little bit of smarts thrown in with a funny script and a fun performance by Dever makes Rosaline a tale of joy instead of woe. 

Rosaline

Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Sean Teale, Kyle Allen, Isabela Merced, Bradley Witford, Minnie Driver, Christopher MacDonald

Director: Karen Maine
Writers: Scott Neustadter, Michael H Weber