On September 24, Dear Evan Hansen premiered, causing moviegoers and theater geeks alike to rush to theaters and witness the beloved Broadway musical off-stage. Ben Platt played his iconic Broadway role in the movie and was joined by other notable actors such as Amy Adams, Kaitlyn Dever, Colton Ryan, Amandla Stenberg, and Danny Pino (to name a few). Each and every one of these cast members embodied the role of their respective character to deliver a heartfelt, eye-opening, and tear-inducing performance that brought me and my friend to absolute tears numerous times.
Dear Evan Hansen focuses on the story of Evan Hansen, a senior in high school who struggles severely with anxiety, depression, and socializing in general. Evan has no true friends at school and his single mother is constantly driven away to work extra hospital shifts, so the anxious teen is often left alone to cope with his issues and how he feels. Eventually, Evan is given an assignment from his therapist: to write a letter to himself about his day, with the hopes that he progressively gets better by journaling his thoughts. However, Evan’s letter gets into the wrong hands one day at school, quickly spiraling his life into a series of shocking events when a fellow student named Connor commits suicide and Evan is indirectly connected to the incident.
Through his connection to Connor’s suicide, Evan makes new friends and falls in love while also hiding the fact that he was not as interconnected with Connor as onlookers believe. Throughout the rest of the film, Evan must clean up the mess that he made while becoming more self-assured in the process. I refuse to spoil the rest of the film; you simply must go and find out for yourselves how Evan Hansen helps himself and others to appreciate himself and those around him, as no one is ever truly alone.
With regards to my personal thoughts on the movie, I loved it! As a massive musical fan myself, I was ecstatic to see the production brought to film. I thought that the film made the incredible story available to a larger audience of people so that everyone who was interested could experience the production and love it as much as I do. The music from the musical was kept in the film, and I adored this choice. The soundtrack makes individuals feel something — something passionate and real and larger than life (or at least I feel this way with the soundtrack) — so keeping the music sung by Platt in the movie as a personal favorite aspect of mine. More than once, I was brought to tears by the actors singing, and I thought that keeping the music in the film helped keep the magic of the musical alive on screen.
Overall, I loved the film, and I cannot wait to hear the opinions of others who see it! The film made me laugh, made me cry, and made me recognize the capability of a movie to speak to a human emotion larger than itself.
Please go check it out! you won’t regret it.
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