Rosaline is another take on the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, a story of star-crossed lovers forbidden to be together. This movie takes on the perspective of Rosaline, Juliet’s cousin and Romeo’s ex. The movie was released on October 6th, on the streaming platform Hulu, starring Kaitlyn Dever as the main character Rosaline Capulet, Sean Teale as Dario, Kyle Allen as Romeo, and Isabela Merced playing the role of Juliet. 

The movie follows the same timeline as the storyline of Romeo and Juliet however it is not the main focus of the movie. Throughout the movie Rosaline tries to win back Romeo after unwillingly standing him up at the Capulet ball where he meets Juliet, whereas we all know they “fall in love”. After finding out Romeo has moved on to her cousin, Rosaline tries to do everything in her power to break them apart for her own selfish reasons. Ultimately, her attempts fail, and she finds out she is actually in love with Dario having her own happy ending. Unlike the story, the movie ends with Romeo and Juliet actually faking their deaths and not dying thanks to Rosaline and Dario, and escaping by boat to an island where they will live together. 

I thought that the movie was hilarious and the modern take on the dialogue was actually very interesting and enjoyable. Another angle that the film took was that Paris was Rosaline’s gay best friend and only took up marrying Juliet to help Rosaline and Romeo get back together. Paris’ character definitely contributed to the movie as the comic relief role which I loved. I enjoyed that Rosaline had a very sarcastic attitude which was very funny when she was bickering with other characters. 

Rosaline used modern songs throughout the movie which I did enjoy. I think it fit the modernized tone of the movie more than time-period-accurate music would have. 

As someone who doesn’t like the story of Romeo and Juliet, I loved the ending where the couple are leaving in the boat and realize they have nothing in common or to even talk about. It was just the feeling of being with someone who you were forbidden to be with that fueled both Romeo and Rosaline’s relationship as well as Romeo and Juliet’s.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys Romeo and Juliet, or different takes on well-known stories. This movie kept me thoroughly entertained with the acting and comedy. Kaitlyn Dever did an incredible job with this role and will hopefully be starting in more movies to come. With all this said Rosaline has become my favorite take on Romeo and Juliet.