"The Sun is Also a Star" is a Big Beautiful Cliché.
- Laurel Walls
- May 22, 2019
- 3 min read
**This post may contain spoilers**
The Sun is Also a Star is a romantic ball of cliché's but yet still seems to breathe new life into the romance genre. The plot is summarized as, "College-bound romantic Daniel Bae and Jamaica-born pragmatist Natasha Kingsley meet -- and fall for each other -- over one magical day amidst the fervor and flurry of New York City. Sparks immediately fly between these two strangers, who might never have met had fate not given them a little push. With just hours left on the clock in what looks to be her last day in the U.S., Natasha is fighting against her family's deportation just as fiercely as she's fighting her growing feelings for Daniel."
When watching the movie you can't help but pick up on the reused bits from romances past, yet the movie puts a modern and very relevant twist on the subject. Daniel (Charles Melton) has less than one day to convince Natasha (Yara Shahidi) that love is real because the next day she is being deported. While Daniel is trying to make her fall in love, Natasha is desperately trying to find a way to stay in her home of New York. She's seen begging lawyers to let her stay in her home.
The thing that really stuck out to me when watching this movie was how well they maintained the theme of destiny throughout the movie. It started out with Natasha wearing a jacket that said "Deus Ex Machina" and then Daniel is seen writing that same phrase in his notebook. Daniel saw Natasha in Grand Central Station and immediately thought of destiny being the romantic that he was. He chased her through the station but eventually lost her. Later, he saw her on again on the subway and they were both getting off at the same stop. He followed her down the road when a car came speeding and hit a man on his bike right in front of Daniel. He then ran up and pulled Natasha back to save her from being hit. That's when Daniel started telling Natasha that it was destiny for them to be together, but Natasha only believes in science and doesn't think love or destiny is real. Later, it's revealed that both Natasha and Daniel were supposed to be going to the same office, Natasha for a meeting with an immigration lawyer and Daniel for an alumni interview that was cancelled. When Natasha goes into the office it's revealed that the lawyer is the man who was hit by the car. Even later on, when Daniel goes to his alumni interview it turns out to be the immigration lawyer. There are so many other running instances of destiny that I can't include them all.
Although this movie isn't very different from any other romantic movie, it still manages to craft a beautiful story and make you feel something. It includes so many beautiful shots and just brilliant directing work by Ry-Russo Young. It was also nice to see the characters not fit the stereotype of the typical romance, they were both people of color and children of immigrants. It very much delt with the family aspect of different cultures as well and it was nice to see that represented in a movie.
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