Even though I watch a whole lot of movies each week (and read quite a few reviews), it’s simply impossible to keep up with every title that’s being released each week. It means you sometimes miss out on titles which could be interesting. That was also the case with this film. My eldest daughter really wanted to see it and as I know what her taste in movies is (which is slightly different from mine) I decided to just give it a chance. A specific element in the story intrigued me.
Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch) wakes up on February 12, which is Cupid’s Day on her school. Everybody gives each other roses and declare their love. She’s picked up by her friends Lindsey (Halston Sage), Ally (Cynthy Wu) and Elody (Medalion Rahimi), who tease her about the fact that she’ll share the bed with her boyfriend for the first time. While at school she receives a couple of roses and during the lunch she is having fun with her friends. When Juliet (Elena Kampouris), who is not part of the group walks by they decide to make fun of her, calling her a psycho. During the evening they go to a party and the night ends in an unexpected way. The next day Samantha wakes up and slowly starts to realize that she has ended up in a timeloop (like in Groundhog Day). How will she deal with this situation….and how can she stop it?
The concept behind Before I Fall (which is based on a book) is interesting. What would a teenager do in a situation like this, in which typical teenage issues (like friends, your own identity, caring for others, finding yourself) are really important? Samantha tackles these, as each day repeats, differently. It doesn’t rise above the level of similar films. The message this title wants to get across is great and the film does have some drama, but it’s mainly going for the teenagers who will watch the film. I could appreciate only some elements, but as a whole it was quite predictable.
