Before I Fall (2017)

Even if you are not that into the films, you probably have seen at least a couple film related to 'time loop'. For me, this is like hundredth. When I first saw the trailer, I said 'not again'. 'Time loop' is just a concept, but the storyline for it drawn differently. It tells the story of a high school girl on the Cupid's Day, a special day for her since she has a big plan for it to remember. Like usual her day goes on and at the end of the day something goes wrong and then she wakes again on the same day in the following day which keeps repeating. Now how she's going to find a solution or the reason for it is covered in the rest of the film.

Familiar them, but well designed storyline around it. In some way, it is same as 'Groundhog Day', though it is about a teenager and more serious and tragic tale. We sometimes wish for a second chance, that's how this film was developed, but even bigger scale with a small message for teenagers.

Awesome performances, particularly Zoey. Predictable scenes, so I had thought of couple of ending that did not happen. And I also disappointed how it concluded. Not the best solution, yet an unexpected twist. Originally the film was based on the book of the same name. This is a small budget and a quality film. The direction was good, very rich in presentation. Definitely not bad for once viewing.

6/10

Fmovies: First of all let me say I didn't pick this film at random, I really am a sucker for this kind of plot device (i.e. Groundhog Day or more generally the 'change one thing in a chain of events and see how they turn out' premise). The problem is I've seen many good films that have used this in clever ways (Run Lola Run) or even average quality films that have at least managed to keep the suspense going (Butterfly Effect). I've even enjoyed a recent teenagery version of this in game format ("Life is Strange") which I think is the main reason why I thought I'd give this one a go.

Well, it is dull and predictable, not even trying to be subtle (the moral of the story is literally printed in big bold letters on a poster that the camera zooms on around 10 times throughout the film). The acting is meh, cinematography good but uninspired. I think it is exclusively aimed at a teenage audience that hasn't yet been exposed to better movies of this kind. I also can't imagine who else would like the godawful music score (OK, sorry teens, I admit this may be me getting old).

Bottom line: not suitable for over 25s.

And a note regarding films on Netflix (that we don't hear about anywhere else): they suck more often than not.

Groundhog Day was played for laughs thereby selling the potential of this concept short. And though this more youthful and feminine take doesn't quite wring everything out of it, it goes much farther than the original, and that's really good to see.

Most critics point out the promise of the lead, Zoey Deutch, who is good, but for me the real star is the story and its execution. There are group scenes in this film that are incredibly natural, as if these actors were actually friends. The gabby girlfriend thing is a bit much for guys, but it moves on pretty quickly. And there's also the performance of the main baddie, Halston Sage, who manages to conjure up every snooty clique queen you've ever known.

All in all, an entertaining time at the movies showing a lot of promise for its young director, Ry Russo-Young.

Before I Fall fmovies. 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")

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 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.