Took my daughter and her friend to see this on Friday and I was pleasantly surprised. I had thought that the movie would try too hard to be like the Twilight franchise, but I was pleased to see it was somewhat darker and less serious.
Adapted for film from the popular book, the movie stars Alden Ehrenreich (who was discovered at a bahmitvah by Steven Spielberg according to IMDB) as Ethan Wate and Alice Englert (daughter of Oscar-winning director Jane Campion and filmaker Colin Englert) as Lena Duchannes, the mysterious new girl in town with supernatural powers who has to choose good or evil on her 16th birthday. Jeremy Irons (Die Hard: With a Vengence, The Borgias) plays her uncle Macon Ravenwood who tries to steer her to the light side whilst her Moma Sarafine, who has taken over the body of local god-fearing mother of Ethan's best friend Link Lincoln (Thomas Mann soon to be seen in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters), is played by the brilliant Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Nanny McPhee), tries her best to turn her to the dark.
Macon and the two new lovebirds Ethan and Lena are ably helped by seer Amma (the excellent Viola Davis - The Help, Knight and Day) who for me, steals the show. Other Ravenwood family members include Lena's cousin Ridley (Emma Rossum - The Day After Tomorrow, Shameless) who has been through the trauma of her 16th birthday, only to turn to the dark side and the jealous ex-girlfriend of Ethan, Emily (played by Zoey Deutch best known for Ringer) who with her friend Savannah (Tiffany Boone from Dentention, Hamilton) try to break them up.
The funniest and darkest sections of the film come when the powers are unleashed, but I love that they are offset by the characters being grounded in small-town reality.
Tagline: Dark secrets will come to light 6/10
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