An Emotional Comedy, Drama, And Fantasy Film That Highlights The Impact Of Music
Published: April 27, 2024
By: Zoë C, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 15
Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time — literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time-traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders — even if she could change the past, should she?
KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Zoe C. comments, “The Greatest Hits is an emotional comedy, drama, and fantasy film that highlights the impact of music. The cute yet sentimental storyline is unique, and I especially love how this film uses music as a metaphor to depict grief, and the stages people go through processing it.” See her full review below.
The Greatest Hits
By Zoë C
KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 15
The Greatest Hits is an emotional comedy, drama, and fantasy film that highlights the impact of music. The cute yet sentimental storyline is unique, and I especially love how this film uses music as a metaphor to depict grief, and the stages people go through processing it.
The film introduces Harriet (Lucy Boynton) who loses her boyfriend in a car accident. The tragedy leaves Harriet with trauma and also the ability to go back in time. When she hears a song that’s connected with a memory, the ability to time travel is triggered, and Harriet goes back to that time. Harriet tries to bring Max back and faces many life-challenge obstacles that don’t allow her to recover from his death. Two years later, Harriet remembers the accident like it happened yesterday—she visits a support group where she meets David (Justin H. Min). And so Harriet must “face the music” and make some very tough decisions.
This film is authentic, heartbreaking, and very relatable. I love the soundtrack and connected with it so much as I constantly listen to music, and I love how music symbolizes different stages of life. Throughout the film, Harriet is desperately looking for ways to bring Max back. While this makes Harriet relatable, I also found this to be the film’s biggest flaw. That being said I did find the plot to be very cute and romantic. The story is about overcoming grief, and I like how the film represents what that means to Harriet. However, the acting and script aren’t as strong as I wished. Lucy Boynton delivers a very good performance as she shows how grief can harshly impact one’s life. And I liked Austin Crute’s performance as Harriet’s best friend—their chemistry is refreshing as he supports Harriet through her grieving process. Finally, I enjoy the aesthetic of this film—the warm cinematography is pleasing to the eye.
The message of this film is that sometimes we need to let go of the past to move forward with the present.
I give The Greatest Hits 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. The Greatest Hits debuts in limited release in theaters on April 5, 2024, and on Hulu on April 23, 2024.