REGRETTING YOU -- Vanilla Romance

Review by Adam Donato

Colleen Hoover is blazing the trail for romance films right now. It Ends With Us was a big box office hit and just a year later, Regretting You hits theaters. Instead of one big lead in Blake Lively, this is more of an ensemble. Dave Franco had great success earlier this year in Together and has a third Now You See Me movie out next month. Allison Williams starred in the failed M3GAN sequel this summer. McKenna Grace is graduating from family horror in the Ghostbusters requels to the upcoming sequels to Scream and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Mason Thames currently has the hottest hand at the moment as Black Phone 2 opens the weekend before this and just launched the live action How to Train Your Dragon franchise. A collection of hot young names that are in movies that appeal to young people and specifically women. In a box office sea of horror films and awards season hopefuls, can Regretting You bring out the love in audiences?

Regretting You tells the story of a mother and daughter picking up the pieces of a fatal car crash and how that affects their love lives. The themes of toxic relationships from It Ends With Us are shared with this Hoover adaptation as well. This film does have a more comedic tone this time around. There’s an attempt to balance the more heavy emotional drama with some broad relatable humor. The demographics of Hoover’s audience says fifteen to twenty four year olds, but this will definitely appeal to moms and adult women in general. There’s an escapist romance paired with a nostalgic teenage romance that seeks to satisfy all ages. Both romances are predictable and cliche. 

None of the cast manages to stand out among the pack. All three have comedic moments here and there. Williams is given the most opportunity so if there had to be one in the ensemble at the head of the pack, it’s certainly her. This film is good exposure for the cast and show off some range as most of them have been operating in the horror and blockbuster spaces as of late. Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald have small roles as well in the film and leave an impression. 

A box office win here would be a big win for everyone involved. It Ends With Us didn’t have good ratings and Regretting You will live in a similar area quality wise. The target demographic doesn’t care about that as much as they want a movie with good looking people in dramatic tea spilling romantic situations. Lots of giggling and gossiping in the full auditorium at the press screening. Fans of the book may enjoy the movie, but everyone else is gonna get dragged to a pretty vanilla romance flick. 

Regretting You is in theaters on October 24. 

Rating: 2/5