Prima di domani

This is one of those 'God I miss the forums' moments. I wish I had someone to talk to about this movie, even while putting up with the trolls lol.

THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

This is a variation of the Groundhog Day/Butterfly effect that has been done Ad nauseum in books and movies where our main character relives the same day. As expected, the point of the story is that their actions in that day evolve to the point where the lessons are learned and the day finally ends. This movie is no different. I'm haunted by this movie because of a particular lesson learned, and it's not the main one that finally ends her loop.

Sam is our main character caught in the time loop. She is part of a foursome of girls that are the popular girls and sometimes the mean girls. Their leader is Lindsay (Linds) who is the meanest of all with some deep rooted insecurities. As Sam relives her day she discovers more insight into her own life and the flaws of her and her friends. The two girls that receive the bulk of the mean girl routine become known to her and she realizes she is just following Lindsay like a puppet, not even knowing why they are mean to these girls. On one of her days journey, she lashes out at her friends in anger and disgust, particularly her bestie Lindsay. She sees Lindsay for who she is and she doesn't like it. For most people that would be the end of that. We all have those friends that we turn on when we realize their flaws and decide to remove them from our lives. Let's face it, love is usually conditional. The part of the movie that REALLY got me and I can't stop thinking about is the full circle point where she recognizes the motivation behind Lindsay's 'meanness' and shows her total compassion and love. She embraces this meanest girl of all and instead of rejection and hate she provides her with complete recognition and acceptance. This may seem like no big deal to most, but to me it stuck out like a sore thumb. Usually in movies and books the character like Lindsay end with that character getting his or her comeuppance. Instead this movie preaches love and understanding of all people.This is the part I can't stop thinking about. This is the kind of love and compassion that I would venture to say most of us want to think we posses, but really don't when it's too close to home. I found that very inspiring and it has me thinking of various people I've rejected in my life based on my judgment of them without any compassion.

Any movie that makes me think as much as this one has deserves a 10.

The popular Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch) goes to the high-school on the day known as Cupid´s Day with her best friends Lindsay Edgecomb (Halston Sage), Ally Harris (Cynthy Wu) and Elody (Medalion Rahimi). Sam mistreats her little sister and her parents at home. She plans to lose her virginity with her boyfriend Rob Cokran (Kian Lawley) during the night. She is invited to go to a party at the house of her schoolmate Kent McFuller (Logan Miller), who has a crush one her, but she despises him. Sam and her friends mock the outcast student Juliet Sykes (Elena Kampouris) at the restaurant. During the night, Lindsay is cruel with Juliet that leaves the party in tears and Rob is totally drunk. Sam decides to go home with her friends but the car hits something and overturns and Sam dies. However, one the next day, Sam wakes up on the Cupid´s Day and she believes she had a nightmare. But soon she realizes that the day is repeating exactly like her dream. Did she have a premonition?

"Before I Fall" is a surprisingly good teen film with the story of a teenage girl trapped in the last day of her life. Based on the Sisyphus legend, the protagonist has the chance to make amendments to her futile life being kind to people that love her and becoming a better person before moving on. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Antes que Eu Vá" ("Before I Go")

I almost passed watching after reading the summery. Sounded like it might be to 'teenage' for me. And honestly, it did have those moments here and there. But it was shot in a way that made me feel like something was underneath. Just waiting to be revealed. And boy was it ever. The ending left me speechless. Well except maybe for the crying noises I was making. If a 56yr old male can find beauty in, and relate to what is probably a teen target audience, then they are doing something right. And now I have new found hope for me, too, that I haven't turned into one of those crotchety old men.

Plot: 6

Themes and Tone: 9

Acting and Characters: 8

Direction: 6

Music and Score: 5

Cinematography: 8

Production Design: 10

Special Effects: 7

Editing: 9

Pacing: 5

Dialogue: 9

Plot: Has been done before. This movie in the context of high school.

Themes and Tone: The move goes for a dark theme and achieves it. On this level the film made an emotional impression on me.

Acting and Characters: Strong stereotypes but the female lead and especially Halston Sage's performances make up for this.

Direction: The movie is a slow start and spends too much time establishing the main characters as a typical mean girl clique. Part of the issue is the story itself (it's repetitive).

Score and Music: I saw this movie with my daughter. I asked if she recognized any of the music in the film. She said no. Not music I would choose to listen to.

Cinematography: This is actually one of the best features of the movie. Nice smooth camera work. Interesting angles and close-ups when needed.

Production Design: Sets and backdrop are very believable and added to the overall theme of the movie.

Special Effects: Aside from one jump scare pretending to be a special effect this aspect of the film is done well.

Editing: Transitions between scenes and other editing is clean and flows.

Pace: A slow start and eventually picks up to a decent pace.

Dialogue: Well done. The film is repetitive due to it's nature. Even so each scene of dialog is needed and adds to the movie.

I was surprised that I liked this movie more than I thought I would. I went because my daughter wanted to see a movie and she chose this one.

This is surprisingly good. I thought it'd be just another predictable crappy teen movie. But it was actually very well thought out, brilliantly acted and riveting to watch. Definitely recommend. It deserves a higher rating.