Directed by: José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço
Cast: Douglas Booth, Alison Pill, Iris Apatow, Amrit Kaur, Jaouhar Ben Ayed, Patrick J. Adams
Does anybody believe in love at first sight anymore? Cultural views on love have changed considerably since Johann Wolfgang Goeth published his tragic novel The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774. Persistence is important, but we have become more mindful of boundaries. If the person you want is engaged to someone else, you'd better keep swiping. The original novel follows a young man named Werther meeting Charlotte, who is overworked from self-sacrificing for her six siblings. Werther immediately falls in love before she says she is engaged to another man. Werther does not take this news well—a love triangle tragedy ensues.
Setting this classical novel in modern Toronto would be interesting. Debut director José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço agrees with his infectious romantic comedy Young Werther, starring Douglas Booth as the eponymous lead. Booth captures the “I can fix her” mindset to a tee, expertly treading the line between charismatic and insufferable. We all know a Werther—someone who takes Shawn Mendes’ “Treat You Better” seriously. Of course, Werther is writing a memoir. Alison Pill and Patrick J. Adams play the self-sacrificing Charlotte and her workaholic lawyer fiancé, Albert, respectively. Werther slimes his way into their lives with expensive gifts and tons of gelato. Charlotte wants the exciting adventure Werther offers. Everybody needs to have fun, right?
Werther’s obsessive stalker behaviour creates escalating pitch-perfect cringe comedy. One hilarious scene has Werther speaking to his germaphobic best friend Paul (Jaouhar Ben Ayed) about his respect for Albert (while trying to steal his fiancée) as a worthy opponent. The film’s biggest laughs come from straight-man Albert digesting Werther’s relentlessness, though I questioned why Albert did not place a restraining order after a climactic scene. Albert’s character was contrived. He is a high-achieving lawyer who sees no immediate issue with a strange man barging into his fiancée’s life to “become her best friend.” The contrivances keep the story entertaining, so it was not an issue.
Sitting down with director José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço, I asked him if a particular moment or experience inspired him to adapt the grim original novel into a modern, lighthearted comedy. Lourenço said the book impacted him during university and has wondered why there was no adaptation of a story so ripe for investigation today or at any time. Coming from someone who generally dislikes romcoms, Young Werther achieves its goals and entertains as obsessively as its lead character.
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