Netflix’s new coming-of-age romantic drama, Along for the Ride, follows a young teenage girl’s transformative journey in summer at a seaside town in Colby, North Carolina. This young adult movie is written and directed by Sofia Alvarez, who helmed To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and brings a new romance between two teenagers who learn how to overcome their fears and past trauma and break free of parents’ high expectations. Alvarez captures the lives of young teenagers and their views of the world as they navigate their lives in a breezy take on love.
Based on the novel by Sarah Dessen, the film follows Auden West (Emma Pasarow), a studious introvert with insomnia, who desires to make some changes in her life before she heads to college. Her academic and divorced parents (Dermot Mulroney and Andie MacDowell) raised her like an adult and she never got the chance to be the most authentic version of herself. Despite her mother’s reservations, she decides to spend her summer with her father and work at her stepmom’s (Kate Bosworth) boutique store. Auden’s insomnia leads her to meet Eli (Belmont Cameli), a mysterious professional BMX biker. He works at the local bike shop and is a fellow insomniac with a troubled past. Auden and Eli form a friendship and they slowly team up to fulfill her quest checklist, which contains all the experiences that she missed out on as a teenager.
In terms of a coming-of-age drama, Along for the Ride is simplistic and presents a much calmer world than the previous iterations in this genre. However, it doesn’t mean that the characters aren’t dealing with baggage in their personal lives. The movie balances real-life teenage problems and anxieties and writes complex adult characters, who aren’t written as caricatures. Obviously, the main focus of the story is the romance/courtship between Auden and Eli. They are both struggling with problems of their own and agree to help each other overcome the burden of self-obsessed divorced parents and escape the grief following the death of Eli’s best friend. Since the film deals with complex themes and emotions, it takes time to develop the characters on screen. Alvarez’s direction and script are polished and aimed at exploring complex themes, and she makes sure to let Auden and Eli’s friendship blossom slowly and naturally.
Along for the Ride shows a refreshing perspective of a young teenager navigating her life. Despite her social awkwardness, she eventually learns to break down barriers and make new friends. With the help of Eli and some new friends from the boutique, she learns to be a teenager and experience new things before she heads off to college. Pasarow portrays a character who is intelligent, and initially, she’s oblivious to other people’s feelings and gives her character a cold and standoffish look. However, the coldness wears off when she learns to be less blunt and more kind towards others. Cameli and Pasarow’s chemistry between Cameli and Pasarow shines in every scene they are in together. Viewers will be pleased with their on-screen chemistry as the actors portray the young teenagers who show a genuine attraction and care for each other.
Along for the Ride is an interesting look at the complexities of a teenager’s life as she goes through the stages of becoming a woman of her own. It’s not easy to look at the past and the mistakes that one has made, but Auden’s journey of self-discovery and acceptance shows growth. Alvarez understands how to capture young teenage love, and it’s always refreshing to see new perspectives on coming-of-age stories. Whether Along for the Ride will be an immediate favourite among viewers is difficult to say, but the spontaneity and butterflies of teenage love are undeniably present in this take on young teenage romance.
