A dreadful sense of deja vu: Before I Fall review by Rashid Irani
This stuck-in-a-time-loop movie offers nothing new, and founders under the weight of its faux-profundity.
BEFORE I FALL
Direction: Ry Russo-Young
Actors: Zoey Deutch, Logan Miller
Rating: 1 / 5
Let’s just get it out there: Hollywood has milked the stuck-in-a-time-loop premise for all it’s worth. Whether through existential comedy (Groundhog Day), sci-fi actioner (Edge of Tomorrow) or mind-bending thriller (Repeaters), it has been done, most likely as many times as was wise, and then some.
So don’t be surprised if you experience an intense sense of déjà vu while watching this adaptation of a female-centric young adult novel.
Incidentally, the author (Lauren Oliver), scriptwriter (Maria Maggenti) and director (Ry Russo-Young) are also women.
Brazenly pilfering elements from the aforementioned titles as well as several other frolicsome flicks like Premature and Heathers, the story revolves around a privileged student (Zoey Deutch) who embodies everything disreputable about American high schools.
The self-absorbed teenager is part of a mean-girls quartet that terrorises the less-popular girls, particularly a misfit loner (Elena Kampouris) who emerges as a catalyst for the ensuing events.
The bratty girlfriends then meet with a terrible car accident. Inexplicably, our heroine reawakens the same morning only to relive that fateful day, over and over again.
The repeat scenario allows her time for introspection and a chance to amend her hateful ways, blah blah blah. There’s just nothing remotely interesting about her attempts at redemption.
And while there is at least some fun to be had in watching the winsome Deutch go through the motions, the one-note bitchiness of her co-stars becomes increasingly irritating.
Foundering under the weight of its faux-profundity, Before I Fall is extremely forgettable.
Watch the trailer for Before I Fall here
