First Love (2022)

I've been watching a lot of thrillers lately, and they've been playing with my mental health. So, for a change, I sought out some romance, and movie-tok(if that's a word) came in handy. In all honesty, I was drawn to this film because of Hero Fiennes Tiffin. My heart races whenever he’s on screen, and my silly jaw drops whenever he speaks. It's awkward to feel this way about someone I’ve only seen on screen, but whatever.

Synopsis

First Love is a film about Jim, a young adult trying to figure out what life has to offer him while his parents are on the verge of losing their minds as they struggle through a serious financial crisis. He also has to deal with heartbreak.

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I really don't know how to put out a straight plot summary of this film because of the sequence at which the actions took place, but all there is to know is that the film touches on family life, love life, and work life in the rawest form ever. It mirrors the struggles of parents who desperately want to cater to the needs of their children but don’t have enough resources to do so while living in a society that's deteriorating on a daily basis. It also crystallizes their weaknesses, fights to keep the home together, and, of course, love, even when it seems like it's not worth fighting for or holding onto.

This movie made me feel warm and fuzzy. It also gave me hope. The hope that centers on: “what's meant for you will definitely come running into your arms when the time is right, defying the circumstances under which it slipped away at first.”

What I found incredible was how I could relate to everything each character went through. Was it the depression that blanketed Greg after he was laid off from work? Or Jim's (Hero Fiennes) love life that seemed fleeting, causing him so much pain? Or Greg's wife, who had to work extra to fill in for her husband? Or Ann, who thought it wise to break up with Jim because she was going to college? My eyes filled with tears as I watched them squeeze their faces and shut their eyes while sucking on the sour lemons life threw at them.

My heart was broken into a thousand pieces and also mended over the course of an hour and a few minutes.

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First Love, written and directed by A.J Edwards, is an American romance film that every young adult should see, as becoming a full-blown adult in an economy like we have today is depressing. This movie somehow feels like a coping mechanism, one that bluntly says, “Yeah, you won't have it all, but make the most out of the little you have and just live.”

I rate it a 4/5. The story is compelling, and it's worth watching with a spouse.