Colleen Hoover’s movie adaptation Regretting You delivered raw emotions of life’s struggles through grief, regret and relationships. The film not only portrays hardship, but also dives deeper into the beauty of forgiveness, change and learning to find meaning in regretful moments. It beautifully explores the depths of relationships in times of struggle, making it a must-watch for mature viewers.

Regretting You is an emotional drama that follows Morgan and her teenage daughter, Clara, as they navigate love, loss and forgiveness. Set in a small, close-knit town, the film shows how grief and hidden secrets test their bond after an unexpected tragedy. While Morgan struggles to protect her daughter and understand herself, Clara faces challenges of first love and growing independence. The movie highlights family, communication and the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, making it both moving and relatable for viewers.

As a book and movie-lover who is passionate about rating movie adaptations, I have developed a deep appreciation for books themselves and movies in their own way. Colleen Hoover’s movie adaptation of the book “Regretting You” moved me in a way that no other book or movie did. The movie expresses the real struggles life throws at people, making the movie feel genuine and realistic. The movie highlights mother-daughter dynamics as they experience grief together after a tragedy, life while growing independent and allowing curiosity and discovering oneself without any limits. 

The film’s set was beautifully set up exactly how the book described the setting and perfectly blended aspects of the setting into the plot. As someone who has read the book “Regretting You” and imagines events playing out while immersed in the story, the setting was exactly how I imagined. The events were thoughtfully planned and expressed in a way where the story felt connected properly with the setting. 

In the book, there are many emotion-provoking scenes where one can tell what the characters thought and felt. These scenes are important to the plot because it builds the story and tension. In the film adaptation, these small details of the characters, which are important to them and the story, were underwhelming and not expressed properly. The details were not given enough attention and time to be understood fully by some audience who has not yet read the book. For example, Jolly Ranchers were a very important detail to the story of Morgan’s past and her relationships. This detail was still portrayed in the film, but could have had more background information about the candy and what it truly meant, it was shown once in the beginning and given to her as a present for her birthday, but only talked about a couple of times afterwards, which left no context for the audience. The small important details in the movie could have been more thought-out and expressed in a meaningful way that connected to the emotion of the original book. 

The cast of the film felt thoughtfully picked out to fit their role. Similar to the setting, actors properly displayed the descriptions of their characters in the story which made the story really come to life. In some parts of the film there were moments in the script that felt cheesy and forced, the dialogue was cringe-worthy at some points but mostly felt authentic. Actor Allison Williams was casted as Morgan, the main character. Williams portrayed her role amazingly and made the book and plot feel alive with her acting in the film. Remarkable and unforgettable actors, such as teenage hearthrob Mason Thames who portrayed Miller Adams and iconic Mckenna Grace who was casted as the teenage daughter, Clara, are confirmed to be dating beyond their role. In the film their relationship felt like genuine young love.

According to People Magazine, Mason Thames wrote, “We improved a lot of kisses, too,” when asked if there were any scenes that he had hoped had made it in the final cut.

The plot of the original piece was thoughtfully written, but in the movie the plot felt messy and disorganized. It is a complex and complicated plot to fit into a two hour film and could have been more detailed. This ties back to the details about the movie not being portrayed properly. The plot was confusing to grapple with and was rushed towards the ending. In the original writing, the ending was suspenseful and aged nicely. The film still followed the plot, but a bit more loosely. 

As someone who loved the “Regretting You” book, the movie was a worthwhile watch. In its respects, there are many mixed reviews. Regretting You is a must-watch with many interpretations and is definitely an experience in seeing relationships move through love, regret and grief.