Most people have heard, and even read, the story of Romeo and Juliet. It’s famous enough that there are countless remakes and movies that have based the plot and characters off of it. Although this plotline is now predictable, the new Hulu original movie Rosaline provides a fresh perspective from the eyes of an overlooked character.

Directed by Karen Maine, this movie follows Romeo’s ex-girlfriend Rosaline and her jealous efforts to break up Romeo and Juliet. The opening dialogue containing modern slang between Rosaline and Romeo immediately lets the viewers know that this isn’t a typical Romeo and Juliet movie. The movie itself is about 97 minutes long and ended at perfect point in the story, so I didn’t get bored and wasn’t wanting more.

My expectations were extremely low going into this movie. My brain led me to believe that it was going to be written and acted as horribly as the Amazon Prime original Cinderella (2021). However, the dialogue didn’t make me cringe and it even made me laugh at points, which was totally unexpected.

The first thing I noticed at the start of the movie was the way it mixed modern language and period accurate sets and costumes. This made it way more funny and made it generally easier to watch and keep up with. It’s the opposite of the 1996 Romeo and Juliet remake, where the characters were speaking in Shakespearean English but wearing modern outfits.

All the actors also embodied the characters perfectly and did a great job giving their own personal touch to each of them. Katelyn Dever, who plays Rosaline, and Isabela Merced, who plays Juliet, stood out to me the most. Both of their facial expressions help lead insight into what type of people their characters were.

Dever expressing annoyance and looking disturbed lets the viewer know that Rosaline doesn’t really care for the opinions of others regarding her life and shows her independent nature. Merced giving doe eyes and sweet smiles for most of the movie shows her positive and naïve outlook towards life, and specifically, love. Other notable actors are Kyle Allen (Romeo), Spencer Rayshon (Paris), Minnie Driver (the nurse) and Nico Hiraga (Steve the Courier).

Overall, this movie would be great to watch if you are looking to let out a good chuckle. Although it isn’t the best movie ever created, it still deserves a little higher than its 6.4 IMDb rating.