After winning six Tony awards, the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen”, has finally come to theaters as a movie; It was released on September 24th, 2021.
As a senior in high school, Evan Hansen’s life has been taken over and controlled by his anxiety and depression. While the film focuses on the characters struggles, it also highlights that it is okay to not be okay.
Evan’s therapist encourages him to write letters to himself beginning with, “Dear Evan Hansen… Today is going to be a great day and here’s why.” Evan writes one of these letters in the school library, and it accidentally ends up in the hands of one of his peers, Connor Murphy. After Evan tries to retrieve the letter, Connor disappears with it and does not return to school. Evan soon learns that Connor had taken his own life, and all he had with him was the letter Evan wrote to himself. Connor’s parents assumed Connor wrote the letter to Evan and that he was his only friend. This causes Evan to be caught up in lie after lie and has trouble escaping this mess. Evan is ultimately able to grow as a person and hold himself accountable.
Between the soundtrack, cast, and visuals, one can still easily argue that this movie was incredible, even if they’ve never seen the Broadway version. The film was filled with familiar faces like, Amandla Stenberg, Amy Adams, Kaitlyn Dever, Nik Donai, Julianne Moore, Dany Pino, Colton Ryan, and ofcourse the original Evan Hansen, Ben Platt.
Some argue that “Ben Platt is too old to play a high-schooler,” but that is hardly an issue. Yes, he is a decade older than Evan Hansen, however Platt transports you right there with him whether he is at school, or dinner at the Murphy’s. Platt’s age is a small issue that can easily be moved past, and is hard to focus on especially when being mesmerized by his singing voice.
It is easy to feel a connection with any of the characters as their emotions feel so real and raw. The messages in the film, regarding mental health, are expressed and emphasized so well, that it is hard to not take something away from this phenomenal musical. Jackie Highland, who did not see the play, said, “I have nothing to compare the movie [but] I thought it was really good and very emotional. [It] Definitely makes you think about how many young people are struggling and you may not even know, which is so sad.” After watching this film, viewers’ perspectives on certain situations are altered; They can grasp more of an understanding that it is always of the utmost importance to be kind to anyone, because everyone is fighting their own battles.