Kerrin Badham

The bond between the main characters Rosie and Alex is sensitively and authenticity portrayed by Lily Collins and Sam Claflin from childhood besties to new high school graduates about to stretch their wings. The story arch of almost unrequited, misunderstood love, avoids most clichés thanks to a story that is unique in its ability to lovingly portray British working class family life. She makes a mistake, keeps the baby, and steps away from her dreams. In the process of loosing the love of her life, she forms a delightful friendship with an unlikely shop keeper Ruby whose hair gets more red and shorter as the story progresses and their friendship matures like merlot. This is one of the delights of the story and Ruby's advice based on the Titanic movie is one of the most memorable from the movie, which was a pleasure from start to end. Rosie and Ruby's lower class circumstances make this story relatable to a broad audience. My only light criticism is this: there is an attempt to change Lily and Sam's appearance over the years through hair colour variation and style, but Lily does not get a mom-bod, and remains as gorgeous as ever despite working a lower class job and being a single mom. The director can be forgiven this oversight though. The movie is one of the best I have seen in a long while.