“Regretting You” is an emotionally rich drama that was released on Oct. 24. My personal experience while watching the film was neutral. The main plot centers around the mother-daughter relationship of Morgan Grant (Allison Williams) and Clara Grant (Mckenna Grace). The first part of the movie sets the tone by the mom announcing to Jonah Sullivan (Dave Franco), Morgan’s best friend, that she was pregnant with Clara during a friend’s road trip stopover. Immediately, I could tell the significance of family and friendship in the film, because of the way they started the announcement with a close loved one.
The first appearance of Miller Adams (Mason Thames), Clara’s love interest, was when Clara was driving on the road, and Miller was standing beside a sign waiting for her. Clara volunteered to help Miller move the signs, but I find that scene to be unrealistic. Who would pull up to a random 17-year-old kid just to help? I guess the filmmakers wanted to make a special scene to set the tone of the relationship between Clara and Miller. What struck me was the fact that throughout the first half of the film, they were both having a toxic relationship. First of all, Miller was in a relationship while leading Clara on. Second of all, Clara knew the fact that Miller was taken but continued to keep in contact with him. There was a moment where Clara did confront Miller’s actions, how he was on and off with his current girlfriend, but the film wasn’t heavy on that fact. My thoughts were that the movie didn’t really give any significance to Miller’s ex-girlfriend and focused on the developing relationship between Clara and Miller. It bothers me how the characters of the film thought it was normal to get into a relationship despite the red flags.
While the Miller and Clara relationship was happening, Chris Grant (Scott Eastwood), Morgan’s husband and Jenny Davidson (Willa Fitzgerald), Jonah’s fiancée, were in a car crash accident and died. Both Morgan and Jonah were shocked by the news that they were having an affair. It made my jaw drop during the revelation. That was the only thing that made me interested in watching the film. The subplot romances between Morgan and Jonah were predictable for me, at least. Why would they intentionally want the first scene to be Morgan telling a major news story to Jonah instead of Chris? As the film progresses, they help heal their heartbreaks and wounds, which seems nice, but I think everything was moving too fast for both of them.
Morgan and Clara both had miscommunication, which led to emotional distance between them. Yes, they were both mourning; they were both healing, but they needed each other the most during that time, and the audience can see that. In some ways, Clara was using Miller’s attention because her mom was too fixated with the secret affair, losing her younger sister and taking care of her daughter.
As everyone got together at the end, Miller made a video presentation on how he was always thinking of asking Clara out to prom from the moment she volunteered to help him with the sign. I get how he was trying to be sweet, but I think Miller is a red flag. It is thoughtful of him to do that but making a video despite having another girlfriend at that time is questionable. For me, the ending felt rushed because of how everyone forgave each other that quickly.
I would recommend watching this movie if you want another stereotypical emotional drama, which, surprisingly, Colleen Hoover does well. Overall, the movie felt mediocre; however, some pieces of major drama plots kept me interested. For that, I give the movie a 3.5/5.
