Krystal | Film Review

Hey Guys x

This film is called 'Drunk on Love' in the UK, so initially when it came on the Sky Premiere channels I didn't recognise it until I read the description. Nevertheless, I had heard of it before, and the inital premise was enough to interest me.

Taylor Ogburn (Nick Robinson) has lived a sheltered life because of this heart condition. So when he meets Krystal (Rosario Dawson), he falls head-over-heels and wants to experience all of life with her - even if she is an alcoholic ex-stripper with a sixteen-year-old wheelchair-bound son (Jacob Latimore). To get closer to her, he joins AA, even though he's never had a drink in his life, hoping to find out more about this mysterious woman.

The reviews for this film aren't great at all, so I had really low expectations, but upon watching it I was pleasantly surprised.

For a start, this film is Rosario Dawson in a role that I'd never seen her in before. It was great and refreshing to see her as a character that doesn't have her life together, and she did an amazing job with the part of Krystal.

While Nick Robinson's character, Taylor, could have been seen as incredibly creepy because of some of the things he does, the film does a good job of making Taylor seem like a completely harmless, hopeless romantic, which he needed to be for the film to work at all.
The thing about Taylor is that he's a very endearing character. You immediately want him to succeed because of his naivety and inherent goodness.

Having said this, the script isn't great. Some of the things that the characters say are just so unbelievable and cringey. In fact, the whole film is as cringey as it is heartwarming - and it is definitely both of these things.

The premise of the film sounds a lot worse than it actually was. If anything it was just a really nice, if a bit strange, movie.

The ending was either hopeful or disappointing depending on your stance throughout the movie. I for one felt completely neutral about it, because while I warmed to these characters individually, I never really warmed to Taylor and Krystal as a 'couple'.

Overall, this isn't one that I'd rush to watch, but if you come across it, give it a chance and see what you make of it.

5/10

Lou