‘Rosaline’ Puts a Juicy, Winning Twist on ‘Romeo and Juliet’
An enemies-to-lovers storyline should have most romantic comedy fans hooked from the very start. The new Hulu movie Rosaline is, thankfully, no different. Starting with this knowledge is important—though the film is Romeo and Juliet adjacent, don’t expect this romp to have any elements of the star-crossed lovers trope. In fact, Rosaline messes around with that shtick, too.
“Meet Romeo’s ex,” posters for the movie tease. Those three words describe the plot better than anyone else could, really, as does the tagline: “The love story you know. The ex you don’t.” Rosaline follows, well, Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever)—the throwaway character from Shakespeare’s original play, an ex of Romeo (Kyle Allen) who also happens to be a Capulet. When Rosaline’s beautiful, perfect cousin Juliet (Isabela Merced) falls in love with Rosaline’s man, chaos ensues.
Rosaline plays with history, as any lighthearted period piece should. Sure, there’s anachronistic music (a string rendition of “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn is ripped straight from Bridgerton). But Rosaline also teases Romeo for his antiquated speech; characters are canonically queer; and the ending isn’t quite as tragic as memory serves. But Romeo and Juliet’s core sparkle of young love, full of sneaking around at night and bad poetry, remains.