“The Half Of It” Review

The Half Of It Review

Isabella McAllister, Newspaper Editor-In-Chief

The Half of It is a Netflix film that came out on May 1, and I saw the trailer and first off thought well this will just be another cheesy story. But oh, how I was wrong… This movie is so much more than the classic teenage love story. This movie shows struggle, pain, friendship, loss, an outcast, love (but not the kind you think) and so many other aspects of real life. 

 

While a lot of this movie is cheesy, it embarks on the story of a girl who is pretty much invisible. Ellie Chu is a 17 year old girl who is alone. She lives in the town of Squamish with her dad (who runs a train station) and runs a business of writing essays for people. Her mom died when she was younger and was forced to grow up too early. She wakes up early everyday in order to run the train lights herself, because her dad doesn’t trust the automatic ones. She also stays up super late to do them again, and does this routine everyday. 

 

While it gives a lot of stereotypical high school scenarios and cliques like the jocks, that one group of girls, and people yelling nicknames at someone. Ellie’s nickname by her peers is Chu Chu, like a train because of her dad’s job and her last name mix together, and well she absolutely hates it.

 

A lot of people use her for good grades and when she finds a boy of the name Paul Munsky asking for help for a love letter to Aster Flores. Ellie does not want to get involved. But throughout she finds herself constantly coming to help him. They develop such a good friendship together. She finally has found someone that feels just like she does, different, and alone. 

 

Throughout the movie Ellie struggles with having to help Paul with getting the girl because she  secretly likes her too. But the twist is absolutely no one knows. She has never been in love before, and finds it hard to express it. But she helps Paul anyway. Paul sees Ellie for who she really is and what she really is. I love this part of the movie because she has never felt understood. 

 

While Paul goes on a couple dates with Aster, he is never able to be himself, because he doesn’t think that will be enough for her. Ellie has been writing all of the letters, and Aster believes that she has been talking to Paul this whole time. 

 

In the end Paul doesn’t end up with Aster, but he realizes that, that is okay. He knows that love is no longer about getting the girl or the love letters that he never wrote. It is about being himself and coming to the conclusion that life is hard. 

 

I loved the aspect behind this movie because often we always see so many love movies that are about a couple, romance, and that is about the whole story. But for this one, it really shows how a love story isn’t always about romance. Love isn’t always about finding the perfect person, but it is about trying, reaching, and failing. That is something that is so true and this is a movie that really shows that. 

 

I recommend this movie for anyone! Obviously not everyone will be into this type of genre, but it just shows so much. It is the first movie I watched in awhile about teens that seems so vulnerable and raw in the sense that it makes you feel like you can relate. This movie is for sure on my top five list now.