Samantha Kingston is forced to relive the same day repeatedly, a tortuous punishment that ultimately compels her to confront the errors of her ways. Ry Russo-Young’s Before I Fall centers on a familiar trope: A seemingly perfect girl with a perfect life is faced with an imperfect future that forces her to reconsider her choices. Zoey Deutch’s portrayal of Samantha adds depth to this conventional setup, as she embarks on a journey of redemption — one that, in an unsettling twist, leaves viewers in a sense of unresolved limbo, mirroring Samantha’s own experience.
When I started this young adult thriller adaptation of the novel Before I Fall, I anticipated a typical teen time-loop movie in the vein of Christopher Landon’s Happy Death Day. In many respects, I wasn’t wrong: The film leans into overdone clichés, delivering a straightforward message against bullying. However, despite its formulaic elements, the film manages to distinguish itself with the emotional depth of its ending.
In this classic Groundhog Day-inspired plot, Samantha cycles through attempts to escape her loop, trying everything — good and bad — to be disentangled from the fatal car crash that restarts her day. Forced to confront the hurt her actions have caused, particularly toward those she and her friends have bullied, she realizes her only escape is to save Juliette, the class outsider, who has been pushed to the edge by their cruelty.
However, the story’s premise — that Samantha needs a near-death experience to finally understand empathy — feels disappointingly shallow. By reducing the lessons on kindness and remorse to an almost transactional relationship with the time loop, the film loses the depth that could make Samantha’s journey feel transformative. Instead, it leans heavily on clichéd “tragic backstories” to paint characters like the childhood friend who’s pined for her, offering little nuance. Ultimately, Samantha’s development feels emulative rather than earned, limiting the film’s moral impact to a simplistic message that undermines the complexity it attempts to convey.
That said, the fact that Samantha conclusively must come to terms with sacrificing her own life to atone for her wrongs adds a unique layer to the typical “mean girl redemption” trope. Instead of merely apologizing or making amends, Samantha faces the reality that the only way to truly undo the damage she’s done is by making the ultimate sacrifice. This portrayal pushes the narrative beyond superficial acts of kindness, presenting a moral challenge that requires Samantha to prioritize someone else’s life over her own — a rare demand in a genre often content with lighter redemptions. Her willingness to accept this fate not only redefines her character but also subverts the expectations that the loop exists solely for her self-improvement. Rather, the story suggests that redemption sometimes requires a more profound cost, reframing the typical narrative of forgiveness and growth in a darker, more consequential light.
In this sense, Before I Fall aligns eerily well with Halloween’s theme of masks and masquerades. Samantha’s cyclical journey shows that becoming our true selves requires more than simply wearing new faces or burying our old ones; it means confronting who we really are, what we’ve done, and how we want to be seen by others. For Samantha, breaking free of her “mean girl” persona isn’t about just saying sorry but requires her to relinquish the shallow comforts of popularity and perfection — to sacrifice herself entirely for someone else’s survival. The film’s moral message goes beyond Samantha’s salvation, questioning the extent to which we need to prioritize others’ lives over our own, even if it means removing the safety of our masks.
On a final note, the technical aspects of the movie are well-executed, particularly for a 2017 release; the set design and social lingo capture the time period accurately without feeling forced (sometimes). Zoey Deutch delivers a commendable performance, but the script limits her ability to showcase the complexity the role demands, leaving her character feeling, once again, somewhat one-dimensional. Although the Seattle setting is meant to add to the film’s thriller vibe, it falls short of creating the tension that the story desperately needs. While the cinematography is visually appealing, it doesn’t compensate for the predictable narrative. All considered, Before I Fall merits a final rating of three out of five stars — a film with potential that ultimately fails to fully deliver.
Aima Raza is a sophomore in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She can be reached at [email protected].