Before I Fall (2017)

“Before I Fall” stars Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, Logan Miller, Elena Kampouris, Diego Boneta, and Jennifer Beals.  Released on March 3, 2017, the film is about a high school senior who discovers that she’s living the last day of her life over and over again.

The film is directed by Ry Russo-Young, who also directed You Won’t Miss Me and Nobody Walks.  It is based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Lauren Oliver.  To be honest, none of the films that were released on the same weekend as Logan appeal to me as much as the other upcoming big movies in March.  There’s the faith-based film, The Shack, which is something that my mother wants to see, and Table 19, a comedy about a group of strangers sitting at a wedding table…that stars Anna Kendrick.  But the only film that managed to grab most of my attention a couple of days before its release was “Before I Fall”, a story about a girl who gets stuck in a time loop.  It’s like Edge of Tomorrow, but without any aliens…and Tom Cruise…and it has a lot of teenage drama.  I’ve only seen the trailer for this film twice, so I have no idea what to expect.  With that said, let’s give it a shot.

If you’re one of the readers who are familiar with the novel, then you’ll probably know how the story goes down from start to finish.  Even though I haven’t read the novel, I already found it to be pretty predictable.  After watching the first 20 minutes of the film, I pretty much knew how this situation is going to be solved, but the journey towards that point was surprisingly not that bad.  The cast and the film’s director did a nice job at capturing the essence of high school life through the eyes of Samantha Kingston, who is played wonderfully by Zoey Deutch.  While it does have its similar tropes like the other high school drama films, Russo-Young found a way to prevent the story from being dull or uninteresting, and that is the time loop element.  It’s pretty similar to Edge of Tomorrow because both of these films show the main character reliving the exact same day, just with different situations.  What I liked about this element was that it helped in providing some development in Deutch’s character.  She’s not just searching for a way to break this trend, she’s also trying to find what’s more important in her life and making a difference for herself and those around her.  The only other problems I have with this film were the film’s corny, yet somehow effective, screenplay and its rushed ending.

Overall, when you look past its predictable teenage drama story and some of its corny Lifetime-movie moments, “Before I Fall” is a surprisingly thoughtful tale about a girl’s journey to becoming a better person, not just to herself, but to her friends, family, and those around her.  It might not impress any newcomers of the young adult genre, but I can see this movie being some sort of inspiration to teenagers who are going through some sort of teenage drama or bullying while also providing solid performances and direction.  Like most young adult films, it’s worth a watch if you’re a fan of the source material.

B-