Regretting You Is a Feast for the Senses

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What do Jolly Ranchers, AMC Theatres, Pepsi, the band Stereolab, Lime and Coconut LaCroix, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, the upcoming movie Novocaine, Union Square, and New York Magazine all have in common? They all pop up as details in the background of Regretting You, Josh Boone’s film based on the Colleen Hoover novel. This already unusual movie is made even more interesting and quirky by these little touches. The film raises questions – when does Mckenna Grace’s character find time to see Carousel? How can they go to AMC Theatres and drink Pepsi when dedicated moviegoers know AMC has Coca-Cola Freestyle machines? And is Allison Williams’s character really a subscriber to New York Magazine? These details don’t have clear answers, but pondering them actually adds to the film’s unique atmosphere.

Regretting You is the newest in a series of over-the-top romantic dramas where love stories play out against a backdrop of tragedy. Thankfully, it avoids the heavy emotional weight and real-life drama of last year’s It Ends With Us, and doesn’t depict abusive relationships. The story centers on two couples: Morgan and Chris, and Morgan’s sister Jenny and Jonah. They have a teenage daughter, Clara, who’s involved in school theater. When Chris and Jenny unexpectedly die in a car accident, Morgan and Jonah discover they were secretly having an affair with each other. The film blends humor, sadness, and, of course, features some prominent product placements.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of Regretting You is how grounded in reality it feels. The film subtly establishes this through realistic details in its props, set design, and the products featured. A key subplot revolves around Miller, a teenage boy who dreams of becoming a filmmaker. His bedroom is decorated with movie posters – classics like Sunset Boulevard, Chinatown, The Two Jakes, and Vertigo, alongside more recent films like Novocaine – all released by Paramount Pictures. We also learn he works at a local AMC theater, where he manages to sneak Clara into a new Tom Cruise movie (also a Paramount release). Their first kiss happens in front of posters for The Running Man and The Godfather, which is playing as part of a retrospective. Despite being portrayed as the coolest kid in school, Miller’s main passion seems to be Paramount films, rather than typical teenage interests like sports or trucks – though he does have a truck!

The film creates a dreamlike, almost unreal feeling. While the characters are often caught up in emotional conversations about love and loss, my attention kept drifting to the incredible details of the sets. Clara’s room is filled with theater programs, from shows like Avenue Q to classics like Carousel, and when she reads the dark novel The Secret History, the book itself feels like just another piece of the scenery. The film is full of strange, unexplained visual choices – like Jonah always wearing incredibly tight shirts or Miller’s constantly clenched jaw. Every single shot is packed with meaning, raising more questions than it answers. In fact, I felt strangely disconnected when I noticed a copy of New York magazine in Morgan’s house that featured my own writing – it made me wonder if I was somehow part of the film’s world, trapped within Regretting You itself.

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2025-10-30 20:57