Rosaline: Film Review
The story of Romeo and Juliet is incredibly well-known and has been told time and time again. But what about Rosaline, the woman Romeo left for Juliet? Well, this new movie tells her imagined side of the tale.
Karen Maine‘s comedic spin on William Shakespeare’s classic stars Kaitlyn Dever as Rosaline, who is madly in love with Romeo (Kyle Allen), the romantic who visits her balcony at night. However, when she fails to attend a masquerade ball, Romeo bumps into her cousin Juliet (Isabela Merced) and falls for her instead. Rosaline, who is then ghosted by Romeo, tries her best to break them up and win back her love.
It took me a minute to adjust to the film’s light-hearted tone and sense of humour but I soon warmed to it and actually came to quite enjoy it. The jokes in Rosaline don’t always land and I don’t think all the beats fully work as it tries too hard at times but it won me over more than I expected it to by the end.
The film is set in the usual time and place as the original story (Verona in the 1300s-1400s) and features many of the same characters but the dialogue is modern (except for Romeo’s old-school romantic declarations). While it can get away with most decisions because Rosaline was an unseen character in the original tale, it still needs to take creative licence where her path intersects with Romeo and Juliet and a lot of tweaks are needed to turn the tragedy into a comedy, particularly at the end.
Rosaline is a feminist who refuses to let her father (the always brilliant Bradley Whitford) arrange her marriage as she wants to marry for love. Rosaline is independent, hot-headed and angsty and the men in town are shocked by how outspoken she is. Dever is great fun as the mean, scorned woman who befriends her sweet, naive cousin as part of her scheme to win back Romeo, who is depicted as an airhead who doesn’t have much to offer outside of his romantic gestures.
Paris, Juliet’s suitor in the original story, has had a big overhaul and is now Rosaline’s gay and hilarious BFF (played by Spencer Stevenson). Sean Teale was drafted in to fill the suitor role – but this time for Rosaline – as the handsome and charming Dario, a new character who is frankly far superior to Romeo! As great as these main players are, my favourite was Minnie Driver as The Nurse – she takes no nonsense and made me laugh the most.
I didn’t have the greatest hopes for Rosaline at the beginning of the movie but I ended up enjoying myself a lot.
On Disney+ from Friday 14th October