Before I Fall

Year: 2017

Genre: Fantasy Drama

Directed: Ry Russo-Young

Stars: Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, Cynthy Wu, Medalion Rahimi, Logan Miller, Kian Lawley, Elena Kampouris, Erica Tremblay, Liv Hewson, Nicholas Lea, Chelsea Kaur Gill, Roan Curtis, Keith Powers, Diego Boneta

Production: Awesomeness Films

I once heard that the studio brass at Columbia Pictures were initially hesitant on Groundhog Day (1993) because they thought the repetitive nature of the film’s script would be too boring for mainstream audiences. While their initial trepidation ultimately proved false, Before I Fall, the latest film to add its own particular funk on the Groundhog formula, is digital proof that their fears were well founded. In fact, watching this YA rip-off of a good idea, felt like I was going through the lead’s feeble little character arc in reverse: hopeful optimism makes way to exhaustion, which fades to anger then top it all off with big, fat helping of what the f**k just happened?

My review in a nutshell

This tepid little story comes courtesy of author Lauren Oliver’s well received novel of the same name. Sam (Deutch), a popular Washington State high schooler, is forced to repeat the same day over and over again in a never-ending cycle of lunchroom gossip and pre-coital stressing. Why; well much like the aforementioned Groundhog Day no concrete reason is ever given; though that film was so artfully done, one needs hardly to ask. Here however, the movie begs that very question perhaps to distract from its stifling dreariness. “Why is this happening to me and not to you?” Sam asks her vapid friend, stone-faced and blunt.

Seriously though, why not you?

Good question Sam, though a better one might be why is this movie happening at all? It’s clear within the first references to Sisyphus and the Butterfly Effect that this movie has no desire to tread new narrative ground. The progression of the story and its themes are beyond predictable and the characters are as safe as a bouncy castle made out of Nerf. The minutia that repeats and repeats is at best superficial and at worst annoying, accompanied by wraithlike hipster music that drones on and on. I mean for goodness sake even Edge of Tomorrow (2014) had the good sense to fill in its lack of existential exploration with creative high-concepts. This movie is just happy convincing you that rich high school girls still go out of their way to publicly taunt their less popular counterparts.

One thing that Groundhog Day did well that Before I Fall seems to purposely be messing up is any semblance of a character change. While Bill Murray’s Phil changed from a solipsistic a**hat to a kindly community angel, Sam turns her interment into a group therapy session where she’s constantly asking if she’s a good person. She hears stories about herself she seems to have forgotten; one dozy little nugget is even provided by a stereotypically sweet admirer (Miller) whose sole purpose is to remind her she has romantic options. Then of course there’s the phrase “Be the Person You Are” that’s literally written on a wall as if proclaiming proudly: Nothing. Interesting. Will. Happen.

The good news is the movie at least tries to distract you with a marginally more interesting subplot involving artsy outcast Juliet (Kampouris) and head mean girl Lindsay (Sage). Details of the group dynamic are parceled out little by little to force engagement between the film and its audience. This can be seen as a net positive for those who don’t mind all the witless melodrama that clumsily un-spools. Of course if you’re far gone as I was, these little reveals do nothing but pad the run time of what is already an unpleasant little trudge through dullsville.

Should I rob a bank? No, I'll wear a skimpy dress instead!

To stymie any impression that Sam is just as shallow as her friends, we’re made aware of her inner-monologue which crackles with empty platitudes and fortune cookie wisdom in an attempt to sound sincere. “Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow…but for me there is only today.” She speaks of course with misplaced intensity and sounds like a lissome pre-teen who’s read one too many Sylvia Plaith poems. Yet behind all that self-seriousness is a total lack of faith. Absolutely nothing in this film is given shades or subtlety but rather falls out of the film like ungainly pitched garbage.

My impression of making the most out of the day...

What you end up with in Before I Fall’s case is a film that marries its inherently un-cinematic concept to a story without depth, understanding or wit. Furthermore it latches itself onto boring, vacuous characters whose supposed faults ensure the stakes are lower than the price of a Lifestyle condom. If the message of this film boils down to “make the most of today,” then do yourself a favor and avoid this tedium at all costs.

Final Grade: F