Plot
The novel begins when the protagonist, 17-year-old Samantha "Sam" Kingston, is killed in a car accident in her hometown of Ridgeview. She vividly describes her horrifying and painful death, and what flashes through her mind in those final seconds. However, she wakes up the following morning in bed, heart pounding and bathed in sweat, with the memory of her demise still fresh in her mind. Gradually, she realizes that for some reason, she is fated to relive the last day of her life, Friday, February 12, also known as Cupid Day at her high school, over and over, until she gets things right.
Throughout the week, Samantha, who seemingly had it all – popularity, an oft-desired boyfriend, and surface-level happiness – must examine what's really important in her "Mean Girls" life, in which she and her snobby, wealthy friends – Lindsay (the ringleader), Ally and Elody – made life miserable for underclassmen and social misfits, a life in which all that seems to matter is social status, clothes, boys, drinking and sex.
Through this "Groundhog Day" phenomenon, Sam experiences all five stages of grief. Denial is seen as she tries to evade her fate; she gets angry and rebels, lashing out at her friends (particularly Lindsay) and hanging out with students she would never dare be seen speaking with; she bargains with God, or fate, believing that if she can make things right, she can save her own life; depression, in which she feels that nothing even matters and where in she begins acting uncharacteristically recklessly; and finally, acceptance. The Sam who accepts her death – but only if she is able to save the life of her friends' prime target – is a very different character from the girl on the first page of the book.
Trailer
CAST
• Zoey Deutch as Samantha Kingston
• Erica Tremblay as Izzy Kingston
• Halston Sage as Lindsay Edgecombe
• Logan Miller as Kent McFuller
• Cynthy Wu as Ally Harris
• Kian Lawley as Rob Cokran
• Jennifer Beals as Samantha's mother
• Medalion Rahimi as Elody
• Diego Boneta as Mr. Daimler
• Elena Kampouris as Juliet Sykes
• Liv Hewson as Anna Cartullo
• Nicholas Lea as Dan Kingston
• Claire Corlett as Devil Cupid
• Roan Curtis as Marian Syk
10 Minute Preview
Q&A by Author to Cast & Director
The use of a montage in an American Teen Drama.
By definition, a montage is "a single pictorial composition made by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs." In filmmaking, a montage is an editing technique in which shots are juxtaposed in an often fast-paced fashion that compresses time and conveys a lot of information in a relatively short period. It is a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information.
FORESHADOWING
Foreshadowing is a highly effective plot device that makes the story plausible. It consists of an implication or introduction early in the movie of something that will be extremely relevant as the plot unfolds.
Quotes by antagonist Lindsay –
These sum up the narrative’s plot for the audience.
Lindsay:
“Wont let my best friend die”
“Till death do us part”
“Tonight everything changes”
“I’m not going to remember this tomorrow”
COLOUR
The use of colour as a Motif & Lighting
Colors evoke emotion in our brains. It’s been proven time and time again that hues of blue are most often associated with cool, calm feelings, while stronger colors like red stir up strong, aggressive emotions.
In this film text lighting is employed to evoke emotion and direct the audience to a feeling.
LIGHTING:
Blue – Something bad and or cold – negative
Red – Evil
Gold / Orange – good – positive - warmth
Color grading
Color grading is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image, or still image electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. Color grading encompasses both color correction and the generation of artisticcolor effects.
In this film text the audience is presented with a strong blue-grey colour grade for the majority of the narrative.
Characters dressed in BLUE
For many scenes in this film text the characters are dressed in various shades of blue. Why?
RESOLUTION SCENE
WHAT YOU DO TODAY MATTERS
Flashbacks + Narration + Montage
BECOME WHO YOU ARE
A freeze frame of a fade to black is employed by the Director to introduce the narrative's resolution.
The audience then hears the narration:
I TRUELY UNDERSTAND HOW TO LIVE THIS DAY
Mise-En-Scene
SCORE
Sound in the film
SCORE
The soundtrack for Before I Fall is critical to the narrative. Quite often Teen American Drama's will be heavily supported by sound tracks. For a list of the songs and their lyrics click the link to the right.
SCORE:
The score in this film text is crucial to explaining, foreshadowing and describing elements within the narrative. An example of this is just prior to the crash scene. The song, ‘w/ou by Gems’. This is also used for the credits. A powerful ballet with lyrics revealing the plot.
Perfect song choice for the narrative
w/ou – GEMS The girls drive home and groove to the music; Lindsay talks about Juliet just as they end up in the accident;
Long way down when there's no way out
How I long for the way we were
Days go by in the dying embers
I still remember / These days are haunted by
Each day that passes by
These days passing by / I wanna get out
But I can't live without you
I can't live without you
I wanna get out
But I can't live without you
I can't live without you / Long way down and there's no way out
Still, I ache for the way we were
If I repent in the dying embers
Will you remember? / These days are haunted by
Each day that passes by
These days passing by / I wanna get out
But I can't live without you
I can't live without you
I wanna get out
But I can't live without you
I can't live without you / Can you save my soul
Can you make me whole
Try to remember
And the wind will blow
But I won't let go
Try to remember / Can you save my soul
Can you make me whole
Try to remember
And the wind will blow
But I won't let go
Try to remember / I wanna get out
But I can't live without you
But I can't live without you
I can't live without you
I can't live without you