Rosaline Review: A Charming, If Predictable Spin on Shakespeare’s Classic Love Story
In William Shakespeare’s classic Romeo & Juliet, the character of Rosaline is barely a supporting figure. She never appears onstage in the original text, has no lines, and her name is mentioned fewer than a dozen times over the course of the play. Instead, she’s more of an idea—the first great love of Romeo Montague, an object to be desired and a memory pined over, rather than a real person.
Director Karen Maines sets out to change all that with the charming Rosaline, a sly, feminist romp that aims to make this often-forgotten figure the hero of her own story, and while its tale is often predictable that doesn’t make it any less fun.
In this version of Shakespeare’s tale, Rosaline Capulet (Kaitlyn Dever) is headstrong and outspoken, a girl who wants more than life in medieval Verona can offer her. She dreams of freedom and adventure, even as she does her best to chase off the often elderly suitors her well-meaning father (Bradley Whitford) keeps throwing at her and sneaks out for clandestine meetings with her Montague boyfriend, Romeo (Kyle Allen).
They’re a poor match from the start—he’s impulsive and romantic, prone to big gestures and flowery declarations. She’s an overthinking, anxious realist. He’s the more traditional of the two, she longs to be a cartographer and has little interest in a life at home raising children. (Not to mention, she’s also an order of magnitude smarter than he is.)
When Romeo tells her he loves her, Rosaline can’t say it back, and things get awkward real quick. The pair nevertheless agree to meet at a Capulet event the next night, but when Rosaline can’t make it–she’s trapped in a storm with a new potential suitor named Dario (an especially charismatic Sean Teale)–Romeo meets a girl named Juliet (Isabela Merced), and the rest, as they say, is literary history.
Rosaline, however, is not the kind of girl to accept being the medieval equivalent of being left on read without a fight, and immediately starts scheming to reclaim her man. And she’s willing to try everything, from sending Romeo countless letters (that go unanswered), attempting to convince her cousin to play the field a bit before settling down with one man and conning her gay BFF Paris into agreeing to get engaged to Juliet as a sort of indirect way to hide his sexuality.
Your mileage may vary about whether you think Rosalien is doing any of this because she actually wants Romeo back for his own sake or if she’s just jealous of Juliet, who is, in so many ways, the kind of dutiful young woman and model daughter she’s been told all her life she’s supposed to be.
Once Romeo and Juliet meet, Rosaline has a ton of fun incorporating various famous moments and images from Shakespeare’s play into the film’s larger story–the balcony scene (which in this version is simply a retread of a night Romeo spent feeding almost the same lines to Rosaline), Romeo’s public murder of Tybalt and the blink and you’ll miss it stabbing of Mercutio, Juliet’s decision to fake her own death are just a few sly nods to the literature fans in the audience.
Because anyone who made it through ninth-grade English class is probably deeply familiar with the various narrative beats of Romeo & Juliet, the story of Rosaline can feel a bit predictable on the surface. We’re prepared for Romeo to ghost Rosaline once he meets Juliet, and we know in advance that Rosaline won’t make it back from her day with Dario in time to attend the Capulet ball because she doesn’t appear during that scene in the play.
But beyond the restrictions imposed by Shakespeare’s text, this isn’t a movie that’s terribly interested in rocking the boat narratively speaking. A coming-of-age tale about love, friendship, and finding yourself, this is a story that’s full of familiar tropes and emotional beats, albeit often charmingly deployed.
Yes, it’s obvious that of course, Rosaline will eventually come to genuinely care about the cousin whose man she’s trying to steal (back). It’s equally clear that her attempt to break up Romeo and Juliet will drive a wedge between her and her cousin at the most inopportune moment. And Dario might as well have arrived in Verona with “future love interest” stamped on his forehead.
What makes Rosaline ultimately worth watching, however, is the heart with which it throws itself into these familiar stories and narrative beats. Dyer, a standout in Hulu’s recent Emmy-winning series Dopesick, is fantastic here, grounding the film’s more ridiculous elements with her sarcastic wit, well-placed eye rolls, and independent attitude.
Isabela Merced makes a sweet and traditional Juliet, a girl who both idolizes her cool older cousin and unabashedly believes in the power of love in a way that Rosaline very clearly does not. The two actresses have great chemistry with one another, and Rosaline and Juliet’s reluctant friendship ultimately becomes an emotional linchpin around which the bulk of the film turns.
(To be honest: I was more invested in their bond than I was in either girl’s romantic relationship.)
And while it’s apparent from very early on that Dario and Rosaline are meant for one another, the film is surprisingly noncommital about whether their relationship is going to be forever or just for right now. Something, I think that feels, appropriate for both these characters, even as the film highlights
Rosaline plays a bit fast and loose with the Bard’s final act of Romeo & Juliet, giving everyone an ending that feels appropriately sweet and hopeful, even for Rosaline herself, who ultimately chooses love over cynicism and helps the famous star-crossed lovers stay together.
This version of events is Rosaline’s story, after all, and that story is very deliberately not a tragedy. Instead, it’s an ode to love in all its forms, from the parents that raise us to the romantic partners we choose and the friends we’ll help fake their own deaths along the way.
Stray Thoughts and Observations
- The costumes throughout this movie are chef’s kiss gorgeous. So is the scenery for that matter. In short, this whole movie looks amazing.
- I kind of want Bradley Whitford to be my dad? The part where Adrian takes a moment to reassure Rosaline (who is in jail) that she’s always been the daughter he wanted her to be just kicked me right in the heart.
- Minner Driver steals every scene as the Nurse and should have had more of them.
What did you think of Rosaline? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Rosaline is now streaming on Hulu.
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Lacy Baugher
Lacy is a pop culture enthusiast and television critic who loves period dramas, epic fantasy, space adventures, and the female characters everyone says you're supposed to hate. Ninth Doctor enthusiast, Aziraphale girlie, and cat lady, she's a member of the Television Critics Association and Rotten Tomatoes-approved. Find her at LacyMB on all platforms.