Following the mixed reviews of Colleen Hoover’s film “It Ends With Us,” I didn’t know how to feel about “Regretting You.” Before I saw it, I had thought to myself that this would be just another bad romance movie. Despite this, my friend and I went to see it after all. Once the movie started and the plot thickened, I could see this film was different. 

Based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, The beginning of “Regretting You” takes place in 2008 with main characters Morgan Grant (Allison Williams) and Chris Grant (Scott Eastwood), two high schoolers dating, at a party with Morgan’s sister Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald) and Jenny’s boyfriend Jonah (Dave Franco). During the party, Morgan finds out she and Chris are expecting a baby.

 Subsequently, the movie then leaps to the present day showing Morgan and her 17-year-old daughter Clara (McKenna Grace). Within the first 30 minutes of the movie my friend and I were speechless, with so many emotions rushing through our thoughts. By the end of “Regretting You,” watchers had seen the impact of Clara and Morgan’s lives changing in an instant. 

I was surprised to enjoy the movie itself, while also the casting with McKenna Grace, Mason Thames, and Allison Williams as the starring roles. “Regretting You” displays a strained relationship between mother and daughter with the struggles and obstacles they faced while healing from Jenny and Chris’s death.

In the book, Clara distances herself and deletes Miller’s number when she finds out he is still in a relationship. In the movie Clara is seen still spending time with Miller during his relationship. The change made in this movie is considerably disappointing, as it changes the whole dynamic of Clara’s character and puts her in the shoes of her aunt Jenny. This highlights Clara’s character as weak and boy obsessed. 

“Regretting You” does a terrific job highlighting the Realistic emotions between mother and daughter during a closed death in the family and the change that comes with it. The plot of the movie was something I hadn’t expected, as The movie explores predictable tropes, while also including new themes that display the struggle of reconciling the past with the present.