The teen and young adult romance movies and rom-coms have recently undergone a very interesting change. For some time now, these films have been fixated on unrequited love and often link young love to death in a rather strange manner; The Fault in Our Stars, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Midnight Sun, Five Feet Apart, Everything Everything, The Notebook, The Last Song, and A Walk to Remember just give a glimpse at the many end-of-life romantic films there are. However, these pictures have a subtly malevolent quality as noted by Justine Smith for The National Post:
Thankfully enough however there is a new bundle of young love films being produced which are more cheerful, progressive with less misogyny than usually in this category such as The Sky is Everywhere on Apple TV+ or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before which has been widely recognized by critics. In fact Sofia Alvarez who was behind To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before has made her debut as a director through Netflix’s Along For the Ride based on Sarah Dessen novel from 2009 bearing same title. As seen here then it seems like she picks up what is positive about her previous scripts but rather than that she applies it to polish all aspects of her work targeting them at stimulating every sense only that sometimes it does work.
The story of Along For the Ride follows Auden (Emma Pasarow), an eighteen-year-old girl who has just graduated from high school who decides to spend summer before starting college at dad’s house with stepmom and their newborn son in small coastal village. Auden may be fairly shy socially but not nearly as awkward as she believes. Her parents divorced when she was little and her overbearing mother has still not changed anything about herself since then (Andie MacDowell playing beautifully annoying). Sometimes they becomes clear that certain things have affected Auden that she shuts out but one can still tell that her mother is a famous and arrogant talk show hostess, and this marriage thing has been the worst for her. Therefore, when she meets Eli (Belmont Cameli), who is also dark and brooding 20-year-old like herself, it’s so obvious they are two of a kind.
There are just too many movies involving young love stories about troubled children where in fact those ‘oddballs’ (who happen to be stunningly good-looking and charming) have something in common leading them to an appearance of sadness as an activity rather than being miserable. Even though Along For the Ride is not completely dissimilar from these in terms of its genre or because it does rely on some of the same romance movie tropes, it can still be seen as being part of a new genre of romantic films where suffering is no longer such an obsession. However, Eli isn’t a toxic person while Auden isn’t emotionally unavailable either – they both do care about each other. In this place, boys do not bully weaker boys physically; girls here are friends rather than enemies to each other; people talk rather than fight; others win nothing. It’s like opposite John Hughes aesthetic.
The reality presented by Alvarez in the film is actually quite nice and beautiful with some scenes reminiscent of fairytale films: there are tuxedoed men dancing with women dressed in yellow gowns on beaches, there’s a trendy café hidden behind grubby walls at laundromats while bonfires lit on sand after which people go swimming at night. The way Along For the Ride combines these different elements makes it almost like a tone poem about youth fantasy full of hope for what adolescence might have looked under better circumstances.
Most of this is done by Alvarez’s dreamier choices as a film director, sometimes dropping all sound altogether and wisely substituting it with an ethereal score composed by the great indie-pop band Beach House (their first film score), whose music fits perfectly into films about teenagers frolicking around and the fleeting joy of summer. Along For the Ride already has a set of really strong musical supervisors in Jessica Berndt and Jane Abernethy, who have assembled an amazing collection of musical pieces from some indie and pop rock acts that have been overlooked over the last ten years.
It is crucial for media targeting young people to make good music choices and include appropriate needle drops. Be it Euphoria or The OC, these are movies that depict teenage or young adult lives better when accompanied by sounds that can directly plug into current culture or just be cool above average scores. Along For the Ride boasts one of the best indie soundtracks in years — Electrelane, Nilufer Yanya, Cleaners From Venus, No Age, Santigold, Lykke Li, Yumi Zouma, Small Black, Gang of Youths, Girls … at different points during the plot they appear on time enhancing this movie with their presence thus creating a perfect summer mixtape.
Luca Del Puppo is a cinematographer who is prepared for writing visuals which we can associate with wonderful songs. Consequently, what matters most on this occasion is not dialogue or narrative but rather how certain scenes feel; therefore Along For the Ride becomes something like a scrapbook for summer full of images and sounds which will remain burning in one’s memory forever having been encountered during youth – teenagehood impressionable years. All this means that its plot and stakes ultimately take second place while viewing feels like looking back at someone else’s best summer ever where how everything happens would always be more important than what actually happens.
In a way, such films are often the best coming-of-agers. If you think back to Dazed and Confused, Boyhood, Lady Bird, Blue is the Warmest Color, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Pariah – none of them are especially plot-driven movies. Perhaps this is because very dramatic events involving people under 20 happen rarely or because the most formative moments in childhood are often greatly shared among most young persons and quite uninteresting (although critically important). Despite the reason behind this, a good film about coming of age involves capturing youth itself together with that phase of life when we cease being children and turn into budding adults.
This is what Along For the Ride does well. It captures the mood and tone of that summer between high school and college, in which fear and hope oscillate; it makes an audiovisual portrait of first things — first friends, first loves, first jobs, first parties, first disappointments. When the film stops trying to look stylish for a moment it loses some steam because there’s not much else there. It’s a very stripped down story dressed up in cinematic style so that without music or dreamy moments the film just feels flat-out boring.
It is no blame of the actors who work well with a skeletal script. Eli played by Belmont Cameli stands out here as a bicycle rider who blames himself for an accident he was involved in in the past but is such a nice guy that would rather not talk about it. He almost seems like a young George Clooney or Heath Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You, only kinder and less cynical; he is very likable and will do well in future. Little appearances from Dermot Mulroney and Andie MacDowell are underwhelming—except for those of MacDowell, which are good at worst. The young actors are convincingly natural, while everyone comes together as one big caring unit.
Perhaps even too simple-hearted. It could be that this dreamy summer is just too unrealistic compared to those finality romantic comedies like The Notebook. However, when it comes to critical analysis, it might be better for young ones growing up and relationships if they watch a relationship between nice kids than one featuring dead kids. For instance, Along For the Ride which can now be watched on Netflix does exist particularly when its stylized aesthetics take over.
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