The Sun Is Also a Star (2019)

Directed by: Ry Russo-Young | 100 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Yara Shahidi, Yara Shahidi, John Leguizamo, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Miriam A. Hyman, Jordan Williams, Jake Choi, Keong Sim, Cathy Shim, Shamika Cotton, Camrus Johnson, Hill Harper, Anais Lee

When you meet the love of your life as a teenager, it turns your whole world upside down. However, Natasha Kingsley, one of the two main characters in ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’, has something else on her mind when she meets Daniel Bae of the same age as he pulls her away from a speeding car. Fun, but disturbing or romantic (depending on how you look at it) fact… Daniel had been following Natasha for some time, because he noticed the way she looked at the ceiling in Grand Central Station and the text on her jacket ‘Deus ex machina’ gave the idea that they are destined to be lovers.

The paths of these high school students cross in a fairytale-like yet hectic New York, a view of the city that seems to be slightly outside reality. Natasha’s family is about to be deported to Jamaica: her last day in the city she can call nothing but “home” is all about clinging to the last straw. Although her parents have resigned themselves to having to leave the country after nine years of illegal residence in America, Natasha still wants to do everything she can to ensure that she can stay. Her goal for today is to get a pro bono lawyer to take their case back to trial.

Daniel actually has other priorities too: His Korean parents want him to study to become a doctor at Dartmouth College, and today he has his alumni interview, an important conversation with someone who studied there who can help him on his way. Daniel would much rather go his own way: he wants to become a poet.

Over the next 24 hours, Natasha and Daniel grow closer in ‘Before Sunrise’ style. Daniel confidently claims, or perhaps more confidently in destiny, that he will soon be able to make Natasha fall in love with him. Natasha doesn’t even believe in love, she looks at the phenomenon from a scientific side and claims that love is just a fabrication to explain hormonal feelings.

Despite that romantic angle – because of course Daniel is right, there is no need for a spoiler label – ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’ is strongest in the scenes that it is not about love. It’s much more exciting to watch Natasha’s battle against the law – which she already seems to be losing. The battle Daniel has to fight with his parents and the expectations they have of him is also many times more interesting than the forced blossoming of love. Both Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton are beautiful people to watch and it’s not hard to imagine how anyone could fall in love with them, but the chemistry is almost completely lacking. No single thing they do together causes that electric surge that you feel when two people are made for each other, no matter how hard Daniel claims they have the necessary X-Factor.

That’s not an insurmountable problem, but it does make the film less good than it could have been. Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon, whose ‘Everything, Everything’ has already been made into a movie, ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’ is a fun pastime for those who like films where all kinds of lines come together and in which coincidences happen. seem to be more providence. New York acts as the third character and thanks to the beautiful camera work you would like to visit this city (again).