In Netflix’s new rom-com “Someone Great,” New York City native Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) has just been broken up with by her boyfriend Nate (Lakeith Stanfield) of nine years after she has accepted a job offer in San Francisco. Before Jenny leaves, she is determined to have one last great night with her two best friends from college by attending Neon Classic, a music festival they used to visit every year. However, this proves to be difficult, as the breakup and her move weigh on her mind.
Besides the realist depiction of facing adulthood and the incredible casting job (hello, Ru Paul), “Someone Great” hits close to home for anyone who has gone through a breakup after thinking the love would last forever.
In one of the first scenes in the movie, Jenny wakes up after a night of drinking. She doesn’t remember much until she checks her computer. She sees her texts to Nate with no reply and an email about Neon Classic.
This might seem like one of the least expressive scenes in the movie. However, for anyone who has gone through a heart-wrenching breakup, it’s all too real. It’s the moment you realize you have to start a new day and a new life without your best friend. You come to terms with the fact that you have to live with your pain and carry on with life, because the world didn’t end with your relationship.
As “Someone Great” continues, it seamlessly alternates between the present day and flashbacks. This timeline portrays the mental processing right after a breakup; you can’t help but be reminded of that person everywhere you go, and you can’t get the memories out of your head.
The flashbacks are brought on by a certain location or song, as Jenny replays memories of her and Nate at the park, the convenience store, his apartment and Neon Classic. She is also brought back into memories with the song from the night they met and “Dreaming of You” by Selena. These flashbacks start off as good memories, but then the bad memories start to seep in as well.
Through the flashbacks, the audience views and mourns the nine years that Jenny and Nate spent together. They started dating at 20 years old, and the audience can see that as they grew up, they grew apart without realizing it.
This is an unfortunate reality for so many relationships that start off young and feel like they can last forever … until you realize what forever actually means.
As horrible as it feels to watch Jenny go through her breakup, “Someone Great” doesn’t stop rolling out the emotions once devastation hits. Jenny, and the audience along with her, experiences hope for her future. After she returns to their “spot” in the park to end the relationship internally, she is able to look forward to starting a new chapter in her career. She knows that she will always love Nate, but it’s a different kind of love than what they used to have.
She admits that she is scared to grow older and leave her friends, but she takes the leap of faith anyways because she ultimately knows that whatever she finds in California will be worth the heartache and separation.
“Someone Great” portrays the variety of emotions that flood in after a break up, while also demonstrating that life and emotions are about more than just one person, even if that person remains important.
