Film review: Shakespeare’s original gets more than a little mangled in Rosaline 

Kyle Allen makes for a delightfully pompous and self-important Romeo, but the movie belongs to Kaitlyn Dever as Rosaline 

The movie belongs to Kaitlyn Dever, who is deliciously sarky as Rosaline 

★★★☆☆

From Haddonfield to fair Verona, where the makers of Rosaline (12A) set their scene, and where Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever) basks in the glow of Romeo’s (Kyle Allen) affections – until, of course, our inconstant hero claps eyes on Juliet (Isabela Merced) and starts waffling on about what light through yonder window breaks. 

Sick and pale with grief, but determined to win back her man, Rosaline befriends her rival and begins scheming to scupper the burgeoning romance by leading Juliet astray, aided and abetted by the smoulderingly handsome soldier Dario (Sean Teale), home from the front and besotted by Rosaline. 

Isabela Merced as Juliet and Kaitlyn Dever as Rosaline in 20th Century Studios' Rosaline

Director Karen Maine follows up 2019’s Yes, God, Yes with another clever take on the teenage rom-com, which is adapted from Rebecca Serle’s novel and offers two pairs of star-crossed lovers for the price of one. 

Shakespeare’s original gets more than a little mangled in the process, of course, with screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber having fun with the Bard’s penchant for dramatic inconsistencies (there are a couple of nice gags at the expense of Shakespeare’s rather loose grasp of geography too). 

Kyle Allen makes for a delightfully pompous and self-important Romeo, but the movie belongs to Kaitlyn Dever, who is deliciously sarky as the cynical mediaeval pot-stirrer who belatedly realises that her only love is sprung from her only hate. 

(Disney+)