Written by Sam Clark 

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 116 minutes 

Director: Josh Boone 

There are often times when you have to disregard/ignore the quality of a film and just see it for what it is, the Fast and Furious franchise being the prime example. But others can also include the Twilight series as no matter how venomously poor the reviews for each installment were, the fans reaction and love made the film a global phenomenon which is what mattered at the end of the day (hence why the phrase ''it does what it says on the tin'' has become a very common and popular phrase). Regretting You falls right into this category, but certainly far more like Twilight. My screening consisted of mostly women, ranging from teens to 20/30s, so it's safe say the film will have a mostly female following; so part of me acknowledges the fact it's not for me, but the other still needs to pay attention to the quality. 

This is adapted from the 2019 novel by Colleen Hoover (who wrote It Ends with Us) and brought to us by The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone, so we are in very specific territory here. The film focuses on a group of four friends; Morgan (Allison Williams), who is dating Chris (Scott Eastwood) and Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald) who is seeing Jonah (Dave Franco). Although it is clear from the start that Morgan and Jonah have always had feelings for each other. Morgan and Chris have a daughter named Clara (Mckenna Grace) who falls for the local troublemaker and bad boy Miller (Mason Thames) whose only notable characteristic trait seems to be that he eats a lot of lollypops. 

One day, Chris and Jenny are killed in a car accident, and Morgan and Jonah discover the two were having an affair, which they choose to keep from Clara; at least for now. They both desperately try and to move on with their lives, but soon their feelings for one another come racing back, and they must decide what they want. Clara is experiencing troubles herself with the loss of her father and her relationship with Miller, and it becomes a question of if anyone one of them can find peace and happiness once and for all. 

The sense of relief I found when I came out of this and discovered that every other review was just as confused as I was, although I was ready to accept it may have just been me. Despite ''doing what it says on the tin'', that does not give the film an automatic get out of jail free card as the following two hours was still far complicated than it needed to be. For a film that should, on paper, be so simple and straightforward is twisted and tangled into one of the most surprising messes I can recall seeing recently. Everything about it is so unconvincing and frankly insulting, but I have no doubt it will still make money as this particular area tends to be popular with audiences. I tried to get on board as much as I could, but to absolutely no avail. 

We begin the film with a flashback that takes place 17 years in the past, and once it is finished, we travel 17 years forward. It looked as though five minutes had passed as I could not for the life of me believe the film was expecting us to go along with it. Perhaps the only saving grace I could possibly salvage from Regretting You are the performances, which are perfectly fine for what they are. Mckenna Grace has already been on our screens for years now since she was a child actor, and has been brilliant in things such as Gifted, but Mason Thames is really establishing himself as one of the best emerging talents we currently have - and let's just say I think everyone wants him as DC'S Robin. 

Without wishing to give too much away, this is one of those films in which a character says a line of dialogue that you only ever get in this genre. Clancy Brown plays Miller's grandfather, and towards the end of the film he reveals to him that he just so happens to be in possession of a New York flat worth $500,000 dollars, which will save them financially. This crucial piece of information is never revealed throughout the course of a near two hour film and felt like a final slap in the face. What proved to be even funnier is that, to me, I saw the ''I cannot believe we're only saying this now'' look on Brown's face as he delivers the line. I hope fans of the book and this genre can take something away, but as for me, I could not have been quicker out of there if I tried. 

Regretting You is in cinemas now.