What The Movie Rosaline Has To Say About Modern Dating Is So On Point
Dating — er, courtship — was so different in Shakespearean times, there's no way "Romeo and Juliet" could have anything in common with the plight of modern love seekers... until now. "Rosaline," a movie streaming on Hulu, offers a new take on the classic love story and considers the many dreaded aspects of trying to connect with someone romantically, from not being on the same page with a potential partner about your feelings, to that free fall of the person not returning your attempts to reach out to them.
Viewers meet Rosaline, played by Kaitlyn Dever, and learn that it's her, not Juliet (Isabela Merced), who first falls for the famous literature lothario. Right away, we feel Rosaline's pain as she crushes hard on Romeo (Kyle Allen) but can't quite find the courage to tell him. When Romeo ends up moving on to the next — yes, you guessed it, it's Juliet — poor Rosaline is all of us blaming ourselves for the bad boy antics of a cheating boyfriend.
Anyone who has ever experienced the heartbreak of someone you're interested in not returning your calls/texts/emails/DMs/letters will want to give our increasingly-desperate heroine a hug, especially when Rosaline's "boyfriend" is found to be pursuing Juliet in much the same way he once went after her.
Don't worry — Rosaline is no victim
Perhaps the hardest part of Rosaline attempting to get over Romeo is that she's forced to take Juliet under her wing as her older cousin. The scene of the two women talking to men in a rowdy bar, although set in the time long ago when Montagues were at war with Capulets, will have single people everywhere nodding along. Indeed, it seems not much has changed when it comes to this scene in hundreds and hundreds of years!
Meanwhile, soon Rosaline learns that the sweet lines Romeo once whispered to her, made famous by Shakespeare, are being used on his new, younger love interest. Poor Rosaline's resulting heartache is certainly timeless.
But there's a hopeful message in the movie that modern daters should be sure to walk away with as Rosaline is far from a victim. Ultimately, this new heroine does not sit back and watch her life fall apart. Instead, Rosaline asserts herself and designs her own future. Is Romeo part of that future? Or does Rosaline find a new love? Perhaps she doesn't even need love to feel fulfilled. You'll have to wait to find out.
All we'll say is that "Rosaline" does not end how you may think. And we're loving this modern, far-more-realistic take on star-crossed love.
You can stream "Rosaline" on Hulu starting October 14, 2022.