The timeless tale of Romeo and Juliet gets a new comedic twist in the new
the film “Rosaline” The film centers on young Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever), who is
in a romance with Romeo (Kyle Allen), despite the fact that their families
are engaged in an extended feud and are mortal enemies
Rosaline’s father (Bradley Whitford) is constantly trying to marry her off
and she is repulsed by the older suitors and uses all the tricks on her
disposal to drive them away.
When Romeo agrees to meet Rosaline at a costume party where their masks
will protect them from feuding members of Rosalie’s family, she is
unprepared to be sent on a date with the young and dashing Dario (Sean
Teale). They mix like oil and water and a freak storm forces Rosaline to
return late to the party. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Romeo
met her cousin Juliet at the party thus setting the stage for their
well-known story to unfold.
With a mix of emotions in place, Rosaline eventually agrees to help her
cousin Juliet (Isabela Merced) with her plan to fake her death so she and
Romeo can be with one another thus setting the stage for a fun twist on
the classic tale.
The film does use modern attitudes, phrasing, and dynamics at times to
create a blend of past meets present and make it more relatable to
younger viewers. Fans of classic Shakespeare will likely not enjoy this
story but in taking the classic and making it fresh and interesting for
younger viewers, the film does a good and provides entertainment as
long as you are willing to set reasonable exceptions and not judge the
film too harshly.
The film releases on October 14th on Hulu.
