Dear Evan Hansen is a 2021 coming-of-age musical drama directed by acclaimed filmmaker Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Wonder), the film is written for the screen by the show’s Tony winner Steven Levenson with music and lyrics by the show’s Oscar®, Grammy and Tony-winning songwriting team of Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman).

The film tells the story of Evan Hansen, a high school senior with Social Anxiety Disorder and his journey of self-discovery and acceptance following the suicide of a fellow classmate. Ben Platt plays the title role, reprising the performance that he originated on stage. Dear Evan Hansen held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9th, 2021 as its Opening Night Gala Presentation.

Featuring Grammy winning songs, including the iconic anthem “You Will Be Found,” “Waving Through a Window,” “For Forever” and “Words Fail,” Dear Evan Hansen stars six-time Oscar® nominee Amy Adams, Oscar® winner Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Colton Ryan (Apple TV+’s Little Voice), Nik Dodani (Netflix’s Atypical), DeMarius Copes (Broadway’s Mean Girls) and Danny Pino (NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit).

Dear Evan Hansen made its debut in theaters September 24th, courtesy of Universal Pictures.

THE GOOD

I should probably start this review by pointing out the fact that I have never seen the Broadway musical the film is based on, or any Broadway musical for that matter, and had zero context until I watched the trailer. I’m also not a huge fan of musicals in general, although I loved The Greatest Showman and I’m not ashamed to admit it. But once I watched the trailer for Dear Evan Hansen, I knew I needed to see it. I have friends who did see the musical and have been anxiously awaiting the film release as well, so that was definitely a contributing factor.

Long story short, Dear Evan Hansen is a fantastic and incredibly moving movie. It is heartfelt, very well acted, and the script felt raw and genuine and had me invested from start to finish. I had my reservations as someone who usually has the take it or leave it mindset when it comes to musicals, but with Dear Evan Hansen I was 110% invested. Maybe it’s the subject matter or the simple fact that I’m a sucker for a good tear jerker or coming-of-age film, but for me this was an experience that stuck with me more than most movies do. I felt like it hit me on a personal level, and it also resonated with me as far as my educational background as it relates to psychology and mental illness. High School is hard enough, but in the social media age I can only imagine it is damn near unbearable at times. Movies like Dear Evan Hansen need to be seen to help spread awareness, similar to the recently released Words on Bathroom Walls (full review and trailer here), that tackles schizophrenia, now streaming on Prime Video.

Dear Evan Hansen explores so many important themes while creating awareness in the process, and for me, that’s something that really matters. Whether you’re passionate about the widespread prevalence of mental issues like depression or anxiety, or just the overall struggle with suicide awareness in this country, the topics on the forefront hit hard. Also, I’m not even going to hide from the fact that I was full on tearing up several times, and a few women in the theater were outright crying. Not even kidding. I did my best to sniffle during the louder parts of the movie of course, I mean I have a reputation to protect after all.

The storyline is extremely heavy emotionally, and I feel like the addition of the music was a big time contributing factor as far as the tear jerking element of the film. If you consider yourself to be a bit of a softie with these types of movies, bring lots of tissues. I felt the isolation and loneliness the characters felt whether it was Connor’s family dealing with this tragedy in this unforgiving age of social media, or Evan having to navigate high school while dealing with his own demons. And speaking of the music, the performances were exceptional. I loved each and every song, and if this is what most musicals are like, I should probably start watching more. I mean the music was so seamless in each scene that it just felt like it belonged. Kudos to everyone that worked on this movie.

Speaking of people who worked on Dear Evan Hansen, if you want to bring a coming-of-age musical or book to the big-screen, director Stephen Chbosky is your guy. Anything this guy teaches receives rave reviews, especially from viewers, which at the end of the day is really all that matters. These are the people going out and supporting these movies. He did the 2012 film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, also based on a book. He also did a favorite of mine, and one of my wife’s absolute favorite films, the coming-of-age 2017 drama Wonder (full review and trailer here), based on the New York Times Bestselling book. I read the book which was amazing, and it was perfectly depicted on-screen as well. The film is now streaming on Hulu. Bottom line, you want Chbosky behind the camera for these films because the guy just gets it, and he quite simply makes movies that matter.

The acting is without a doubt one of the main reasons Dear Evan Hansen works so well. The cast is stacked and very well balanced. Going in I wasn’t hugely familiar with Ben Platt aside from the Pitch Perfect movies, but he is incredible in this role and I now understand his Broadway success. His portrayal of a high school student who is struggling with borderline debilitating anxiety and depression felt real and inspiring. He was genuine and his display of emotion was amazing. He is such a talented actor, singer, and songwriter, and the fact that he won a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy in the title role in the Broadway musical for which the film is based, is absolutely insane to me. I mean this guy lit the world on fire with this coming-of-age musical from 2015-2017, and was able to step into the lead role in the film version at the age of 27, and still play what I thought was a very believable and fantastic portrayal of the character. The critics that are grilling him for “looking too old” to play a high school student are just looking for something to nitpick because that never once entered my mind. Instead Platt’s commitment to this role should be applauded, not criticized. Just see the movie and you will be amazed.

Julianne Moore was fantastic in the role of Evan’s mom, and her portrayal of a struggling single mother with a teenager dealing with struggles of his own felt genuine. I loved Amy Adams in her role as Connor’s mom, and felt like her unimaginable struggle as a mother grasping for something to hold onto to keep the memory of her late son alive was authentic. I have dealt with loss in my life and watched my own mother go down a similar path, and it is downright crushing mentally and physically so I really felt for her character. Its true what they say, there is no love like a mothers love. Adams is one of the best actresses working today, and she proves it here.

I also really liked Danny Pino, best known for his role in Law & Order: SVU, as Connor’s step dad. As a father myself, he got the water works going for me a few times. Kaitlyn Dever does a really great job as Connor’s complicated but ultimately kind hearted sister, and her chemistry with Platt was huge to the success of the film. I also really enjoyed Colton Ryan in his role as the troubled and misunderstood Connor Murphy. I was extremely pleased with Amandla Stenberg in her role as Alana Beck. She may not be a household name, but she was amazing in the 2018 coming-of-age drama The Hate U Give. She is an actress to keep your eye on. Nik Dodani essentially plays his exact same character from the Netflix series Atypical, but I didn’t mind it and felt like he did a really nice job here as well with his light-hearted presence.

THE BAD

Whether you are turning a book or a Broadway play into a movie, the bar is already set high and the expectations are unrealistic more often than not. A movie requires so many different things to work in unison in such a small window, that it often produces something considered to be nothing short of a letdown. But sometimes that bar is part of the problem. Like I explained earlier in the review I wasn’t comparing Dear Evan Hansen to the Broadway musical it is based on, but from my perspective, this is just a really good movie plain and simple. You could maybe argue that the acting felt forced at times, but it was few and far between and I felt like it was more of the difficult transitions from acting to singing in certain scenes. I can’t think of any substantial issues I had with Dear Evan Hansen, and I honestly feel thankful that I had the opportunity to see it. This is a movie that will leave a mark on you, and I think it will inevitably help a lot of people. It is a little long at 2 hours and 17 minutes which is lengthy for most people, but trust me it flies by.

THE VERDICT

Powerful, inspirational, and genuinely moving, Dear Evan Hansen is hands down the best musical since The Greatest Showman, and quite the tear jerker. Do yourself a favor and ignore the cynical so-called “critics” and check this out in theaters, you’ll be glad you did. I mean seriously, sometimes these out of touch critics are the absolute worst (I consider myself a lone ranger of sorts of course), and I can’t seem to figure out what is up their you know what when it comes to this movie. I guess I should thank them for lowering my expectations, but needless to say I will be recommending this movie to everyone who will listen, and I truly hope it does well and allows this important message the opportunity to reach as many people as possible.

So please, do me a huge favor and ignore the naysayers and trust the audience score, Dear Evan Hansen is worth it.