Modern adaptations of classical literature aren’t anything new. Even just recently, the surprise hit romantic comedy Anyone but You was loosely adapted from William Shakespeare‘s Much Ado About Nothing. Young Werther isn’t the next Anyone but You, especially since the 2023 movie had two of the biggest rising stars in the industry. Although that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço seems far more interested in making a more direct adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe‘s 18th-century novel about unrequited love but with much more modern sensibilities. Sure, rom-coms about unrequited love also aren’t that fresh, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be charming.
What Is ‘Young Werther’ About?
Young Werther opens with a title card proclaiming that it is based on the 1774 novel of “tragic romance” that “drove the entirety of Europe into a full-on literary tizzy. Sort of like a Beatlemania? But for books.” It’s a clever and cute way to start the movie and helps establish the movie’s snarky tone. We are quickly introduced to Werther (Douglas Booth), who is making a quick stop in Toronto to retrieve a statue before he and his best friend, Paul (Jaouhar Ben Ayed), head overseas for a trip to Europe. However, while making a quick stop at a gelato stand, Werther crosses paths with the beautiful Charlotte (Alison Pill), whom he falls head over heels in love with. Werther ends up backing out of his extravagant trip and ends up befriending Charlotte, in hopes of wooing her over.
The two seem like a match made in heaven, they have similar passions and world-views, but there is just one problem. Charlotte is already engaged to another man, Albert (Patrick J. Adams). While in most movies a character like Albert would be presented as a prick, that’s not the case here. Instead, Albert is an ultra charismatic lawyer, that Werther also ends up befriending along the way. However, Werther finds his way in when he realizes that Charlotte may be having second thoughts about her upcoming wedding.
Douglas Booth and Alison Pill Chemistry Carries ‘Young Werther’
Over the past 10 years, Alison Pill has become one of the most fascinating character actresses in Hollywood. While she mainly sticks with more genre fare, such as the recent M. Night Shyamalan movie Trap and the legacy sequel series Star Trek: Picard, Young Werther finally allows her to play the lead in a romantic comedy. Pill is perfectly cast as Charlotte, perfectly capturing the character’s introverted yet charming demeanor, which makes it so easy to see why Werther fell in love with her in the first place. While her character may be romantically confused, Pill is able to make the character feel immensely likable.
Douglas Booth also exudes an immense amount of energy and wit into the title role. While Charlotte is much more of an introvert, Werther is more outgoing. After all, Paul reminds him in the first five minutes of the movie that he used to be the lead singer of a country music band that never really took off. Booth perfectly nails his character’s hapless and effortlessly charming nature, and we, as an audience, become attached to him almost immediately. Booth and Pill’s chemistry is surprisingly sweet. They do feel believable in their roles, and you can’t help but root for Werther to win over the woman of his dreams, even if that does mean crashing a wedding.
‘Young Werther’ Feels Too Derivative and Generic To Make an Impact
The main problem with Young Werther is that, even though this is the first big-screen adaptation of Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel, the source material has clearly influenced so many other romantic comedies through the years. While you can argue that it shouldn’t matter, the fact that Young Werther is set in the modern day makes it ultimately feel too derivative of other romantic comedies. One particular sequence that has Werther trying to get Charlotte out of a dress inside a dressing room, feels beat-for-beat the same as another Toronto-based romantic-comedy, What If, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan, which also finds a male character falling in love with a woman already in a serious relationship.Young Werther is proof that you don’t need to set a movie in the present day for it to feel modernized. In fact, it would have felt much more unique if the film made itself into a period piece, as many of the more cliché elements wouldn’t have felt nearly as noticeable.
The cinematography by Nick Haight does give the movie a pleasant aesthetic, beautifully capturing the bright sunshine as Werther and Charlotte spend time together at a local park while also giving the movie a more gray and dull texture when Werther’s pursuit is put at risk. Lourenço also manages to make the movie flow at a brisk pace, running at almost exactly 90 minutes. He never wastes any time getting into the story. However, the movie’s third act, while commendable for staying somewhat faithful to the source material, ends up feeling rushed and anti-climatic, and, tonally, the movie just feels off as it struggles between trying to become more serious or relying on its more lighthearted nature.
Young Werther isn’t a terrible movie by any stretch, but it also feels like it relies far too heavily on your typical romantic-comedy clichés for it to stick out. It’s a shame, as Booth and Pill are insanely sweet together, but the execution ultimately feels too unremarkable to be memorable.
Young Werther had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
