“Risk everything, regret nothing,” the tagline reads for the latest Colleen Hoover novel-turned-movie “Regretting You.” Released on Oct. 24 by Paramount Pictures, it stars actors Allison Williams, McKenna Grace, Dave Franco, and Mason Thames. The nearly two-hour-long PG-13 film had multiple sub-plots with unskippable ad-breaks alongside comedic yet awkward writing.
More like “risk your money, regret something.”
To be clear, I have never read a Colleen Hoover book, nor have I specifically read “Regretting You” just to watch this movie. But, why are we still making Colleen Hoover book-to-movie adaptations? As if the first Hoover movie adaptation, “It Ends With Us” (2024) wasn’t controversial enough by glamorizing sensitive topics, “Regretting You” once again proves why Hoover is a controversial author on top of poor writing.
Set in the fictional Dylan, N.C., the story follows a protective 35-year-old mother Morgan (Williams) and her rebellious 17-year-old daughter Clara (Grace) dealing with the tribulations of a car crash involving Morgan’s husband and her sister, ultimately revealing an affair. Morgan struggles with resentment, later uncovering hidden love in her friend Jonah (Franco). On the other hand, Clara finds love in cliché popular guy Miller (Thames). Eventually, Morgan and Clara learn to love and forgive one another and those who hurt them.
Too much is packed into a two-hour run time.
Audiences are taken through a whirlwind of emotions, with gasps, laughs, and cries echoing in my screening of around 13 people. Williams’ and Franco’s emotional performances were moving, but their more emotional scenes felt manufactured by overacting.
However, one of my biggest gripes with this film is the fact that cheating is glamorized.
Is cheating common in Dylan? Aside from the major affair that leads to the events in the movie, there is also Miller’s emotional cheating via his long-term crush for Clara. It’s established that Miller is dating someone else, but he had this crush for two years prior to the timeline set in the film. Yes, he broke up with his girlfriend before he dated Clara, but that doesn’t excuse the fact he was still asking her out to prom while he was in a relationship, and he clearly acknowledged that. In the end of the film, it’s celebrated as “finding the one he truly loves.” But this sets a harmful precedent that one can have a crush on another whilst still in a relationship.
This film loves its product placements too. The most prominent of them all, AMC and Jolly Ranchers, try to serve as some symbol throughout the movie. Miller works at an AMC theater in the film and is meant to be a symbolic distraction from grief, but it’s very clear that they’re trying to show you that the next time you visit an AMC theater, you can have snacks delivered to your seat.
It isn’t entirely unredeemable either. The romantic chemistry between Grace and Thames is unmatched and made their character’s relationship in the film much more believable. Almost every interaction between these two got the most gasps out of the audience. I was kicking my feet for Clara.
I also have to applaud the true underdog of the movie: Lexie (portrayed by Sam Morelos), who is the best friend to Clara. She provides comedic relief, most of the time in unexpected situations, and got laughs among audience members in my screening.
“Regretting You” pushes into confusing writing, most likely in part to the original work of Hoover, but also likely due to screenwriter Susan McMartin. I was entertained by the comedic relief and chemistry between Grace and Thames (which initially drew me in to see the movie), the problematic source material which glamorizes cheating and the seemingly not-so-subtle product placements makes it hard to fully enjoy.
“As expected from a Colleen Hoover movie adaptation, the dialogue flow could’ve been smoother, but it was pretty accurate for being set in modern day,” PHS senior Jewel Gawlas said. “However, the characters’ moral compasses and emotional performances were also very out of whack.”
