PARK CITY — There are a lot of good things about Ry Russo-Young’s “Before I Fall,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday. Let’s quickly review them, shall we?
As a director, Russo-Young has a distinct vision and an impressive visual aesthetic. The cinematography is gorgeous and the production design is the height of Pacific Northwest white privilege. The soundtrack is on point. The cast of young twentysomethings pull off playing high-school seniors convincingly and deliver astute performances. The “Groundhog Day” storyline mostly works and delivers a surprise or two. And, yet, for some reason when it’s over, the final result leaves you wanting.
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Based on Lauren Oliver’s 2010 novel, the movie could fit in a triple feature with recent Young Adult (YA) dramas “The Fault In Our Stars” and “Paper Towns.” They all deal with middle- to upper-middle-class (or in this case upper, upper-middle-class) teens who learns lessons about who they are and/or how to treat one another. The twist is that “Before” follows its heroine, Samantha (Zoey Deutch, giving young Keri Russell vibes), as she finds herself stuck reliving the same day after a car accident with three of her best friends. No matter what she does, no matter what different choices makes, she always awakes the next morning back in bed with the clock turned back to the morning before.
As the days repeat themselves again and again, Samantha begins to learn some things about her friends she didn’t know before. Her best friend Lindsay (an impressive Halston Sage) is more vindictive than she realized, and there’s a specific reason for it. She’s blown off the advances of her childhood friend Kent (Logan Miller, charming), but soon discovers there really is more to him. She finally sees how cool the queer lesbian (Liv Hewson, making the most of her role) who sits next to her in class is. She discovers why Lindsay has made fun of fellow classmate and loner Juliet (Elena Kampouris, perfectly on edge) for years and why Juliet’s ready to end it all. She finally realizes how wonderful her younger sister Izzie (Erica Tremblay — yes, Jacob’s sister) is. She recognizes how much she truly loves her mom (Jennifer Beals, “I’ll have whatever workout regimen she’s having”).
Repetitive day after repetitive day, Samantha grows into the person she’s supposed to be. Where can the story go once that happens? Take a few minutes and you’ll eventually figure it out yourself.
“Before I Fall” is a movie that will make its core audience of teenage girls melt and is a nice diversion for everyone else. It will make Hollywood studios take Russo-Young more seriously and be a calling card for Deutch, Sage and Miller. That’s not so bad, is it? Plus, did we mention that soundtrack? [B-]
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