Destined for greatness

Newest teen romance showcases lives of today’s teens

Warner Brothers

Natasha Kingsley and Daniel Bae, played by Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton, discuss fate and love. “The Sun Is Also a Star” is a new teen romance film that is not just the normal cliché. This movie also shows the struggles that youth deal with in their lives.

Jordan Owens, Staff Writer

Two teens’ lives will change in a single day after they cross paths, though neither knows how much the other will impact them. When Natasha Kingsley and Daniel Bae meet and get onto the topic of the universe, together they are forced to test the limits of fate.

“The Sun Is Also a Star” features “black-ish” actress Yara Shahidi and “Riverdale” actor Charles Melton. It is the newest young adult romance movie that released May 17.

When Daniel notices Natasha on the subway, he follows a series of coincidences that leads him to her. After seeing her numerous times, Daniel starts to believe that the two of them meeting is fate. Though for Natasha, it is not. Since Natasha and her family are being deported back to Jamaica the next day, she refuses to believe that any kind of luck will save her. Upon hearing this, Daniel is given a day to convince Natasha that love, luck, and fate are real.

This film received mixed reactions on its opening weekend from both its audience and critics. After spending about $9 million on the movie, it only made $2.6 million. Although in a movement to support films made by minorities, major companies are buying out movie theaters and using #BlackAndGoldOpen in the following weeks to help boost the film’s income because of its depiction of interracial romance.

Even though this movie seems like another cliché teen romance film, it is actually the complete opposite. The only thing that is cliché is the fact the two characters fall in love in a day. Otherwise, their lives and struggles are exactly what today’s teens deal with.

While falling for Natasha, Daniel is dealing with expectations brought onto him with being first-generation Korean American. The day he meets Natasha, Daniel has an interview with Dartmouth alumni to get a scholarship into their school of medicine.

Shahidi’s character though deals with the more controversial topic of immigration. Just like many youth in America, Natasha is a dreamer. When there is a random ICE raid at her father’s job, her family faces deportation. Throughout the movie, Natasha goes with Daniel to the different bureaus in New York City to find someone who can help her at least postpone the deportation.

“The Sun Is Also a Star,” is the movie adaptation to Nicola Yoon’s book “The Sun Is Also a Star,” released in September of 2016. Like all movie adaptations, this film does not follow the same details in the book page by page, though it still manages to do the book justice.

The film changes parts of the plot so the audience will be able to relate more. Such as how Natasha’s family is found out for being undocumented. In the book, it is her father, after coming from home a bar drunk, who tells a cop how they came to America undocumented. With this change, Natasha and her father are able to have a better relationship in the movie than they do in the novel.

“The Sun Is Also a Star” is a film that brings to light subjects that are not usually talked about in young adult romance movies, and despite the cliché of the main plot, it is a movie worth seeing.