Synopsis (all information can be found in the trailer)
In Regretting You, a romantic movie, based on the Colleen Hoover book, Mother and daughter, Morgan and Clara Grant, played by Allison Williams and McKenna Grace, lose their sister/aunt and husband/father in a sudden car crash. The tragedy spurs both Morgan and Clara into grief alongside the blossoming of their new relationships. The Mother and the aunts’ soon-to-be husband and baby daddy, Jonah, Dave Franco, are shocked by uncovering the truth as to why their partners were together that day.
My Thoughts (minor spoilers)
I had been anticipating the release of Regretting You ever since the trailers and interviews flooded my feed. The movie’s premise was enticing and reminded me of a good old-fashioned romantic movie filled with drama, romance, relationships, and actors I liked. That is what you get with the Regretting You. Some have said Regretting You is bad or too cheesy. I love cheesey. The Regretting You has its helping of cheesy rom-com, but it doesn’t lose any entertaining and engaging qualities.
I came into Regretting You thinking I would be more invested in the younger couple, played by McKenna Grace and Mason Thames. The actors were phenomenal in their interviews, which definitely captured my attention. They were enticing with the idea that they may be dating in real life, even if it is PR. Their characters are seniors in high school, the artsy theater girl and the mysterious popular boy, who by happenstance end up hanging out with each other. Mason Thames as Miller Adams even brings back yearning for his girl, Clara Grant. However, I was even more invested in the older couple, Jonah and Morgan. He is also yearning for his girl, having put his feelings aside for decades, starting in high school, to let her have a family with his best friend. They have a feel-good relationship as they grow close because of the same grief. Their love story is sweet and genuine. This couple seems realistic in the way they make sense together.
The younger couple, Miller and Clara, have much more drama while they navigate starting and being in a relationship. Sometimes, I was even rooting for Miller over Clara in their relationship drama. In the end, they are adorable, and the actors gave so much love and life into them. The banter they play with and the sweet way Miller cares for Clara is what anyone would want.
I resonated with the way that Morgan and Clara both process grief while allowing themselves to still find joy in their life in their romantic love lives. Some ideas of grief are that it is all-consuming, and a false social idea is that if you are “truly” grieving, you cannot have any joy. This movie demonstrates the way every emotion can be experienced. People are not simple creatures but complicated. The world is constantly happening around us and to us, and it all causes different emotions. It is not wrong or disingenuous to feel sad about one thing and happy about another, all in the same breath. This movie allows the complexity of grief, love, resentment, and joy to revolve together.