Expensive Evan Hansen is a musical coming of age drama movie a couple of troubled teen who will get himself right into a heap of hassle. When mentally struggling teenager Evan Hansen by chance prints a word he had supposed to put in writing to himself as a type of remedy, a fellow damaged schoolmate finally ends up taking it. When that schoolmate finally ends up lifeless the subsequent day, the letter is the one factor the household has to attempt to piece collectively his loss of life. Evan then lies a couple of friendship with the boy to appease the household and win their daughter’s coronary heart.
Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) is a socially awkward teenager dwelling along with his divorced mom (Julianne Moore). He’s seeing a therapist who offers him homework, which is to put in writing letters to himself to assist him course of his emotions. Even with treatment, he can’t appear to make buddies at college. His mom pleads with him to make buddies as the brand new college yr is beginning, although Evan is hindered by a forged on his arm. He has an enormous crush on schoolmate Zoe Murphy (Kaitlyn Dever).
In a wierd accident, Evan runs into her aggressive and mentally unstable older brother Connor (Colton Ryan) within the hallway. Fleeing from the scene, Evan holes up within the library the place he edits his letter and talks about his emotions for Zoe, by chance printing it out. When Connor finds Evan and tries to make it proper by signing his forged, he sees the printed letter and steals it. A distraught Evan returns to high school the subsequent day to find that Connor has killed himself, and the one factor they’ve discovered was the word that Evan wrote to himself, addressed “Expensive Evan Hanson.”
As a result of Connor’s dad and mom assume that Connor wrote the word, and see Evan’s signed forged, they need to get to know him extra, to assist make sense of Connor’s loss of life. Evan’s social nervousness is overcome by his emotions for Connor’s sister Zoe, so he finally ends up mendacity to the household that he was buddies with Connor, in an try and make all of them really feel higher. His lie is so good, that it immediately brings him love and acceptance at college, in addition to closeness to Zoe. Headed by schoolmate Alana (Amandla Stenberg) “The Connor Mission” finally ends up going viral and bringing in an excessive amount of consideration. The web now spews hatred for Connor’s loving dad and mom, although Evan is guilty. Will Evan be capable to unravel his lie to save lots of the Murphy household, and nonetheless get the love and a spotlight he craves?
Directed by Stephen Chbosky (Surprise, The Perks of Being A Wallflower), Expensive Evan Hansen bears his trademark, ultra-dramatic and socially anxious characters. Evan Hansen’s character arc is relatable, his emotional curler coaster palpably felt. Chbosky shortly cuts into the meat of the issue and deliberately makes the entire movie very awkward, very quick.
Based mostly on the Tony award-winning musical stage play written by Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, Steven Levenson adapts it to the silver display, broadening the settings to permit for a extra private look into the lifetime of Evan Hansen. The power for the movie medium to get nearer and observe Evan round works properly for the deeply private story that it tells. The sturdy writing creates actual characters the place there they may simply have been props alongside the journey, as a substitute.
Nicely-crafted and technically sound, Expensive Evan Hansen permits a superb vessel for some very dedicated performances. The musical numbers add a novel ingredient which appears largely pointless, save for a small a part of the plot the place it does play a big position. That being mentioned, there’s nothing unhealthy concerning the movie. It has a steady drive to push the cringe-worthy fundamental character deeper right into a lie that makes an attempt to deliver happiness to everybody round him.
