Review: Purple Hearts Is A Tearjerker For The Modern Age

Netflix’s latest romantic venture, Purple Hearts, debuts on the streaming service today, July 29. This new film follows Cassie (Sofia Carson), a rising singer struggling to make ends meet while also dealing with her newly diagnosed diabetes and Luke (Nicholas Galitzine), a young man, newly enlisted into the Marines trying to get a new break on life. Though their first meeting wasn’t exactly romantic, the pair come to an agreement to marry one another when their pasts catch up with them and they find themselves needing the benefits that the military provides to married couples in order to survive. As the film progresses, the two begin to realize that they aren’t so different and, maybe this whole marriage agreement wasn’t so bad at all.

Director, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum follows the typical romance trope with this romantic drama, the two leads despise one another in the beginning, but eventually find common ground, and fall for one another. However, Rosenbaum takes an interesting spin on a modern romance. The two lead characters couldn’t be further apart on the political spectrum, and constantly bump heads, but both are desperate to get out of the situations they have found themselves in and marriage seems like the only choice. For Cassie, her insurance doesn’t cover her medicine for her diabetes, and she doesn’t have enough cash to cover both the insulin and her rent. For Luke, he found himself indebt to a drug dealer and needs to come up with the cash in order to protect his family. It is definitely a unique take that fits seamlessly in the world today.

Carson and Galitzine take on our romantic leads, and truly showcase that this is their film. Each is given a plethora of material to work with that lends to their talents. Whether it be a romantic scene, a dramatic scene, or a lighthearted scene, both actors put their emotions on the table to give viewers two wonderful performances. The two are surrounded by a number of different supporting characters, but these characters are essentially plot pieces. This is Cassie and Luke’s story and that’s where the focus remains throughout the entirety of the film.

With two fantastic leads guiding viewers through the story, Purple Hearts is a modern romantic drama that will feel fairly relatable to some of its audience. For others, it will definitely be a re-watch must, while also pulling at the heartstrings, so have the tissue box at the ready.

Grade: B+