The Sun is Also a Star is a new all-American love story

Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton are utterly magnetic in Ry Russo-Young’s sweet and romantic YA adaptation that will make you believe in love.

Director Ry Russo-Young may be a helmer of YA adaptations, but her features bear the mark of an old soul. The 2017 drama Before I Fall was a Groundhog Day-esque story with heavy themes about dying young and bullying that rounded out a feature far more affecting than expected.

Her latest feature, an adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s novel of the same name is no different. The Sun is Also a Story is a compassionate and old-fashioned romance with a progressive story relevant to today. With two extremely dynamic performances by Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton, audiences will be left feeling and falling in love.

Natasha Kingsley (Shahidi) is a New York City high schooler trying to find any means of keeping her immigrant family in the country. With just one day left before they’re scheduled for deportation, Natasha is at the end of her rope. Through sheer happenstance, she meets Daniel (Melton), a hopeless romantic convinced he can make Natasha fall for him. The two’s day together ends up changing their lives forever.

YARA SHAHIDI as Natasha Kingsley and CHARLES MELTON as Daniel Bae in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures’ romantic drama “THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR”. Photo Credit: Atsushi Nishijima

Drawing from the likes of the Before trilogy and Love with a Proper Stranger, The Sun is Also a Star uses a compressed time period to create tension and serious romance. Natasha is a first generation immigrant ready for senior year but it’s obvious she’s grown up too quickly.

Determined to stay in New York she’s working with every immigration expert and lawyer that she can. Her parents have seemingly resigned themselves to their new life, and while others tell her “you’re going to be fine” — compared to other immigrants, being deported to Jamaica sounds amazing — she refuses to give up the country she’s known as home.

Much is made about the multiverse and the nature of destiny. The moment Natasha puts on a jacket with “deus ex machina” emblazoned on the back, expect some loopholes to be jumped. It’s what entices Daniel, a poet whose parents demand he be a doctor, to follow her. Unlike most movies where the concept of a man demanding a woman love him would be a source of horror, Daniel’s admiration for Natasha is sparked because of their unique spirits.

YARA SHAHIDI as Natasha Kingsley and CHARLES MELTON as Daniel Bae in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures’ romantic drama “THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR”. Photo Credit: Atsushi Nishijima

He’s fascinated by the fact that she loves New York City, so much so that she looks at the ceiling of Grand Central Station. Where Natasha is all cynicism and science, Daniel is fantasy and romance. Is he naive? A bit. But the whole goal of The Sun is Also a Star is to remind teens that love and hope exist, regardless of our current issues.

Shahidi is an old soul and her performance as Natasha lives up to that. She conveys the character’s fear and frustration. The young actress shows the hope flitting across her face when a lawyer offers her a glimmer of help. Cinematographer Autumn Durald understands the impact of faces and the camera never leaves Shahidi, particularly in serious moments. When the actress finally breaks down, you feel the dam bursting. Shahidi shows all the emotions leaving her body and it’s wondrous to see an actress of her young age able to emote so fully.

YARA SHAHIDI as Natasha Kingsley and CHARLES MELTON as Daniel Bae in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures’ romantic drama “THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR”. Photo Credit: Atsushi Nishijima

Providing the perfect compliment is Charles Melton as Daniel. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a male lead in a movie who so perfectly evokes John Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler. But where Dobler had a boombox and Peter Gabriel, Melton has nothing but a microphone and “Crimson and Clover.”

Alongside his chiseled good looks, Melton knows how to speak Tracy Oliver’s swoon-worthy lines. They sound ripped from an ’80s movie, but that’s just what this movie calls for. His confidence in love is so appealing. He’s sensitive and sweet, steps back when Natasha asks him to, and is reassuring when she needs someone. And make no mistake, the karaoke scene in this movie is one for the books!

More than anything, Russo-Young and crew are just as in love with the history of its immigrant characters and New York in general. Durald’s camera makes New York beautiful and legendary. Extended sequences of the movie see Daniel and Natasha recounting their family history. One sequence involving Daniel’s explanation of how Koreans dominated the black hair care market is particularly fascinating. These moments might bog down the narrative but they help you understand the integration of all nations.

Despite these characters disparate countries or histories, they’ve intermixed somewhere down the line. This idea of fated unity is at the heart of The Sun is Also a Star, giving audiences a simple examination of what unifies us all.

The Sun is Also a Star is a unique entry into the YA genre, never talking down to its audience and creating an original romance that hearkens back to Old Hollywood. Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton are a couple for the ages!