Film celebrates girlfriend bonds
Boasting themes that are both cerebral and philosophical, “Before I Fall” is a young-adult thriller that goes far beyond the surface level.
Too often, teens — girls, especially — are depicted on screen as superficial, obsessed with appearances and the happy-go-lucky lifestyle enabled by parental disposable income.
But in “Before I Fall,” popularity contests are plagued by truly existential conundrums, with elevated stakes exacerbated by the fleeting nature of youth; and questions about the nature of life itself go hand in hand with the tricky maneuvering of high-school politics.
The film has a supernatural-ish twist that sparks all the questioning.
“Before I Fall” borrows from “Groundhog Day” in that protagonist Samantha (Zoey Deutch) must repeatedly relive the Friday preceding a bad car crash.
Complicating matters: That Friday is Cupid Day, wherein the entire high-school celebrates Valentine’s Day with “val-o-grams,” rose deliveries that literally account for every student’s popularity points.
Sam starts off as a carefree queen bee, ensconced in a tightly knit foursome of popular girls, with closely held allies and enemies.
However, when forced to relive the day — which always resets to the moment of the crash — she zeroes in on side characters, the nerds and the bullied, and the small interactions that lead to the inevitable, trying to change the result and stop the loop.
“Before I Fall” — adapted by Maria Maggenti from the Lauren Oliver novel and directed by Ry Russo-Young — is an anomaly in that it focuses on the deeply intimate friendships between teen girls, foregrounding their experiences, voices and perspectives among the hubbub of high school.
Boyfriends are present but less important than the bonds among girls — born of shared history and hours spent together.
Russo-Young puts the Pacific Northwest setting to work by casting an eerie, ethereal spell over the proceedings. Overcast skies evoke a ghostly pallor; and a cold, moody otherworldliness is spooky, quiet and reflective.
Russo-Young and editor Joe Landauer carefully expand and contract the repeated moments, picking out new pieces of information to parcel out each round.
As Sam, Deutch is supported by the likes of Halston
Sage as uber-mean girl Lindsay, using her armor as a weapon; Logan Miller as longtime pal Kent; and Medalion Rahimi and Cynthy Wu as the rest of her clique.
But Deutch carries the emotional journey on her back, as Sam is the only one who knows that she’s in a doomed time loop.
Sam is provided a “doover,” and, in making another circle around the track, she learns something every time. She learns how to care more for others and less about others’ judgments of her; how to do what she feels and believes, not just follow the crowd.
We might not get do-overs in real life, but “Before I Fall” serves as a reminder of how growth and change can lead us to our truest selves.