Regretting You Parent Guide

Morgan’s (Allison Williams) life has been guided by her commitment to love and duty. Having largely raised her sister, Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald), Morgan became pregnant in high school. She married her boyfriend, Chris (Scott Eastwood) and has spent seventeen years devoted to her husband and daughter, Clara (Mckenna Grace).

Bright and buoyant, Clara has a close relationship with both parents, and with her aunt Jenny and fiancé, Jonah (Dave Franco), who also happens to be Jenny’s high school boyfriend and the father of her adorable baby boy. For her part, Clara has a long-term crush on Miller (Mason Thames), whose devil-may-care grin and easy friendliness make him the coolest guy in school. When he waves her down for a ride, Clara thinks life is finally going her way.

Then Chris and Jenny die in a car accident.

The double tragedy leaves the survivors reeling. Clara is awash in grief and Morgan and Jonah try to figure out why Chris and Jenny were in a car together when they should have been at work. The answers are disturbing, and have devastating effects on Morgan, Jonah, and eventually Clara…

Based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, Regretting You is a glossy soap opera, designed to give its audience “all the feels”. If the target audience is anything like the one at the showing I attended, it’s composed of female twenty-somethings, a few captive boyfriends, and 40-plus moms. And if the conversations I overheard are typical, the movie is a hit with its intended demographic.

Unfortunately, I am not the target demographic, being both too old and too cynical to drool over the handsome male cast members or tear up at the emotional soup sloshing around on screen. This production is not a hit with me, but I must admit that it has some good points along with its many failures. Although the adult cast members are disappointingly wooden, both Mckenna Grace and Mason Thames have sparkling screen presence and lots of chemistry. Their relationship keeps the film moving and somehow prevents a cheesy, two-hour movie from feeling bloated or overlong. They also have enough charm that I kept watching, even though the narrative is one hundred percent predictable ten minutes in.

There are no surprises in Regretting You, aside from the volume of negative content. Despite its PG-13 rating, I don’t recommend this flick for teens. It contains scenes of minors smoking marijuana and teens and adults chugging alcohol to cope with stress, even becoming intoxicated. In addition, teenagers have sex on screen (as do adults) and although the sex is consensual and there is discussion of contraception, parents will be concerned by both the activity and the emotional context. The movie delivers a simple message about family ties but that is swamped by the soapy, sexy content. Family friendly this production ain’t and watching it with teens might lead to parental regrets.

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.