Yolis Arroyo

Let me preface by saying that I was never a fan of the story, but I thought maybe they would’ve changed the plot to fit a wider audience — that did not happen. This story was still about the horrible manipulation of a grieving family by a white kid that takes advantage of someone dying by suicide. Yes, that is literally what this is about. I honestly can’t believe it got made, and I don’t think a story like this should be given a voice. There were so many things wrong with this movie besides the main plot. I was so confused as to why Evan had a crush on Zoe, when she was so entitled and one-dimensional. Alana’s character had so much more depth than Zoe’s, but of course, the white girl is the main love interest, because that’s the way it’s always been folks! Evan and Zoe’s relationship just felt so forced and wrong. Then, they take away the song the one Hispanic Actor (Danny Pino) was supposed to have? Them giving Alana a bigger role is the only attempt they made when it came to “diversity” in this film. It felt like they just went “Make this person of color’s role bigger, but also make the other two people of color’s roles smaller — because we can’t cut the white character’s roles.” This movie was supposedly trying to bring mental health awareness, but the story itself was just not the way to do it. Someone dies by suicide, yet the main character uses that to his advantage to ‘get the girl’? It teaches the wrong message. I mean, absolutely nothing good comes from death by suicide…but this movie makes it seem otherwise. In the end, you learn almost nothing about Connor, and somehow the movie tries to make you feel like Evan Hansen did something good in his honor? As someone with debilitating depression (among other mental health diagnoses) this movie was a slap in the face. I don’t get how people can look past the horrific story and actually like this film. The music is the only good part of this entire movie, and when you take the plot into consideration, the music is ruined. I didn’t think I’d have such an adverse reaction to this movie. I went in with an open mind, and read zero reviews beforehand. I just can’t get past how terrible the main plot is. I was so uncomfortable the entire time I was watching this, and the movie just seemed to drag on and on. I wouldn’t recommend anyone with a mental health illness watch this sad excuse for mental health awareness; as it may be triggering to see. If you are okay with minimum effort diversity, and can look past the disgusting storyline, then this movie is for you.