‘Regretting You’ is a cute romance with regretful plot progression

By Danielle Cherry 

In Colleen Hoover’s newest book-turned-movie, “Regretting You,” a family’s life is turned upside down when a cute romance gets out of hand. 

Morgan and Chris Grant live a happy life with their beautiful daughter, Clara. Everything is fine, except for the strange feeling that Morgan is missing out on something. The lingering regret turns fatal when Chris passes away, leaving Clara and Morgan to deal with the emotional mess he leaves in his wake. 

At the beginning of the movie, the plot is unclear, starting in Morgan’s childhood with characters and relationships that are fuzzy and confusing. It seems there was a spark between Morgan (Allison Williams) and a different man, Jonah (Dave Franco), but that spark dies as they each pick partners drastically different from themselves, something both characters recognize. 

We eventually find out that the girl Jonah ends up with is actually Morgan’s sister. In an awkward turn of events, the tension that Morgan and Jonah felt in their childhood persists into their now married adult lives.

Tragedy strikes when Chris suddenly passes, throwing Morgan and Clara into a new dynamic, one of grief and anger. Instead of working through the complications of his death, Morgan hides vital information from her daughter, leaving Clara to believe his death is her fault. 

Seeking solace from mourning, Clara yearns for Miller (Mason Thames), the hot boy in school, who is unfortunately in an on-off relationship with another girl. Hating the idea of Clara and Miller together, Morgan bans the relationship, making Clara all the more eager to pursue Miller.

In the midst of mourning, Clara and Morgan seem to have a role reversal. Clara’s young relationship being the set standard for what a healthy relationship looks like. Morgan begins to act childishly, refusing help in the midst of her loss, leading her down a path to depression. 

What was marketed as a cute high school romance quickly turns into a drama with unforeseen stakes. Unexpected twists in relationships occur, making me gasp out loud in my seat. Let’s just say I was not prepared for this to be a movie about two romances. 

Mckenna Grace deserves all the credit for her beautiful portrayal of Clara’s grief and heartache. She truly leads the cast in capturing mourning. At the same time, she portrays adolescent impulsivity with such realism, honing in on the regret she feels about her mistakes. 

The romantic atmosphere in this movie was palpable. Everything, from tension to swoon-worthy moments, made this movie the cute romance I was expecting. 

I would be amiss if I didn’t take a moment to appreciate Miller’s character. Someone in the writing room finally understood how to write a male lead who would make girls swoon, not for his looks, but for his charm. 

While flirty, Miller’s charisma came out of his selfless heart for Clara, checking up on her even when their relationship was in a rough patch. Never once did he ask anything of her, but rather focused on building her up. 

Mason Thames truly captured what it meant to be young and in love, making me question if there really is something going on between him and Mckenna Grace. I do fear that the standard for dates will skyrocket after this movie. Miller and Clara have some truly heart-touching moments of care for each other in the midst of tragedy and confusion. 

Usually in romances, you can predict the ending: they all live happily ever after. But “Regretting You” throws so many curveballs, I genuinely wasn’t sure if things would end okay. 

Even though the movie is rated PG-13, it really pushes the limits of what is acceptable in that rating. For a story by Colleen Hover, the movie was pretty clean. 

The biggest problem with the movie was the parallel romances. Both were genuinely interesting and fun, but the movie was marketed as a young adult romance, not a romance movie with a young adult romance and a romance between adults. 

Both plots were interesting and equally romantic, but the romantic tension infiltrated Clara and Morgan’s relationship, forcing them apart. If the writers had picked one way to go with the movie, it would have been clearer who the main characters and plot were; instead, both seemed to be fighting for importance and screen time. 

While a bit convoluted in plot, this movie gives hope for talent in Hollywood. Mckenna Grace and Mason Thames truly set a high standard for what adolescent acting should look like, as well as what a healthy relationship both on and off screen look like. 

Do I regret seeing this movie? No. But I think the marketing team should regret their decision to hide the real plot of the movie, though the deception itself seems to be a better marketing strategy. 

Talk about a movie with a persistent theme in regret, even the marketing team felt it. 

“Regretting You” is currently playing in theaters 

Danielle Cherry is a sophomore communication major and writer for Cedars A&E and Sports. She is a Missionary Kid from Germany and loves to travel, play volleyball and is currently wishing Miller wasn’t a made up character.

Images courtesy of Constantin Film