''Rosaline'' is a 2022 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by Karen Maine, written by Scott Neustadter and

Michael H. Weber Michael H. Weber (born January 13, 1978) is an American screenwriter and producer. He and his writing partner, Scott Neustadter, are best known for writing the screenplay for the romantic comedy film ''500 Days of Summer''. The film is based on t ...

, and starring

Kaitlyn Dever Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever (; born December 21, 1996) is an American actress, singer, musician, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Justified (TV series), Justified'' (2011–2015), ''Last Man Standing (America ...

Isabela Merced Isabela Yolanda Moner (born July 10, 2001), known professionally as Isabela Merced since 2019, is an American actress. She played the lead role in the Nickelodeon television series ''100 Things to Do Before High School'' (2014–2016), and went ...

, Kyle Allen,

Sean Teale Sean Teale (born 18 June 1992) is a British actor, known for his roles as Louis, Prince of Condé (1530–1569), Prince Condé in ''Reign (TV series), Reign'', Nick Levan in ''Skins (British TV series), Skins'', and Ben Larson in the Syfy serie ...

Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy '' Happy Gilmore'', a role he’d later reprise in 2025’s sequel '' H ...

Minnie Driver Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is a British and American actress and singer. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in the 1995 film ''Circle of Friends (1995 film), Circle of Friends''. She went on to star i ...

, and

Bradley Whitford Bradley Whitford (born October 10, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman in the NBC television political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2006), for which he ...

. It is based on the 2012

young adult novel Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

''When You Were Mine'' by Rebecca Serle, which in turn was inspired by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

''. The film had its world premiere on October 6, 2022, at the

El Capitan Theatre El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entert ...

and was released on October 14, 2022, on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

in the United States,

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

internationally and

Star+ Star+ (Star Plus; stylized as ST★R+) was a short-lived subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service available in almost all Ibero-American states. The service was owned by The Walt Disney Company through the Disney Entertai ...

in Latin America. The film was removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, but was later made available digitally on September 26, 2023.

Plot

Rosaline Rosaline () is a fictional character mentioned in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A Capulet, she is the cousin of Juliet, niece of Lord Capulet, and Romeo's original romantic interest. Although an unseen character, her ro ...

is an independent-minded, unconventional young lady from the House Capulet. She has been secretly seeing

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

, a member of the Capulets' rivals, the Montagues, and arranges to meet him at the Capulet masquerade ball. Rosaline misses the ball after a meeting with a potential suitor, Dario Penza, introduced by her father, leads to them becoming trapped on a boat in a storm; meanwhile, at the ball, Romeo meets and becomes smitten with Rosaline's cousin

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

. Next day, after Romeo does not arrive to see her, Rosaline follows him and sees him wooing Juliet. Lord and Lady Capulet call on Rosaline's father Adrian, taking with them Juliet and her cousin

Tybalt Tybalt () is a fictional character and the principal antagonist in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is the son of Lady Capulet's brother, Juliet's short-tempered first cousin, and Romeo's rival. Tybalt shares the same name ...

. Rosaline tells Juliet that she knows of Juliet's liaison with Romeo, and takes her out to a cheap drinking house to meet men, hoping to make Juliet forget about Romeo. Rosaline writes letters to Romeo and becomes dismayed when he does not write back. She then discovers letters he has written to Juliet, which she takes. Finding Juliet expecting Romeo, Rosaline encourages her to spurn him and he leaves, but Juliet sees Rosaline's necklace engraved with Romeo's and Rosaline's names and realizes what her cousin is doing. Juliet confidently declares that Romeo will not return to Rosaline. Rosaline convinces her friend Count Paris to court Juliet to distract attention from his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

; the Capulets heartily accept the suit, to Juliet's dismay. Rosaline finds a letter from Romeo to Juliet and discovers that the two are about to elope. Rosaline and Dario infiltrate the Montague estate, intending to stop the wedding, but they are seen by guards; they manage to escape on horseback, but fail to stop the wedding. Dario tells Rosaline he will be leaving to rejoin the navy. Rosaline sends Romeo's letters back to Juliet, but the message is intercepted by Tybalt. After Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel and Romeo kills Tybalt, their respective fathers demand that Romeo and Juliet's marriage be annulled and declare war on each other. Rosaline apologises to Dario and asks for his help. Together, they go to Juliet's room and offer to smuggle her and Romeo to safety, only to learn that Juliet has already carried out her plan to fake her death. Later, Rosaline arrives at Juliet's body to find Romeo with her and still alive, as Dario had informed him of the plan. Rosaline tells Romeo to also pretend to be dead, and scolds the arriving Montagues and Capulets for having caused this by their feud. The families reconcile and depart. Rosaline and Dario see Romeo and Juliet off in Dario's boat before sharing a kiss. In a

mid-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually i ...

, Romeo and Juliet try to find common interests on the boat.

Cast

Production

In May 2021, it was announced that

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

had picked up the film, after initially starting development over at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. It was also announced that Karen Maine had been hired to direct the film based on a screenplay by Scott Neustadter and

, which in turn is based on the 2012

''When You Were Mine'' by Rebecca Serle. That same month,

was cast in the title role. Later in June 2021,

was cast as

. In July 2021, Kyle Allen was cast as

. That same month,

was cast. In August,

signed on to play a take on the Nurse from the original story. Filming began in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy, in September 2021 and concluded that October.

Music

Drum & Lace and Ian Hultquist were attached to compose the film by May 2022. The two used instruments such as the harpsichord, lute, wooden flutes, and Renaissance drums alongside contemporary instruments like drum machines and

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

and soft synths for the score, which was recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The two also had a 15-piece string ensemble.

Marketing

First look images were revealed on August 11, 2022. The official trailer was released on September 22, 2022, set to

Icona Pop Icona Pop ( ) are a Swedish synth-pop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences. Its two members, Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986) and Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987), grew up in Stockholm and created what the ...

's 2012 song " I Love It". Writing for '' IndieWire'', Samantha Bergeson stated that "''Rosaline'' in part acts as a who's-who of

Gen Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 20 ...

Hollywood", citing Dever, Merced, and Allen starring in the upcoming films '' Ticket to Paradise'', ''

Madame Web Madame Web (Cassandra Webb) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' No. 210, published November 1980, and was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist John ...

'', and the now cancelled live-action ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...

'', respectively.

Release

''Rosaline'' had its world premiere on October 6, 2022, at the

. The film was released on October 14, 2022, on

in the United States,

internationally,

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...

in Southeast Asia and

in Latin America. Disney announced that ''Rosaline'' would stream on

in the US but limited for 5 days, which would start from February 10 to 15. It is no longer available on Disney+ in the US, but it is currently available digitally on other platforms, including

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Vudu Fandango at Home (formerly known as Vudu) is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand re ...

and

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

as of September 26, 2023.

Reception

Audience viewership

According to

Whip Media Whip Media Group is a private American company selling enterprise software for Digital distribution, content distribution, as well as TV- and film-related user data. It operates physical offices in the US, the UK, and the EU. Background Whip Med ...

, ''Rosaline'' was the sixth most streamed movie across all platforms in the United States during the week of October 16, 2022, and the 8th most streamed movie across all platforms in the United States during the week of October 21, 2022.

Critical response

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * {{Hulu 2022 romantic comedy films 2022 films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s historical comedy films 2020s historical romance films 20th Century Studios films 21 Laps Entertainment films American historical comedy films American historical romance films American romantic comedy films English-language historical comedy films English-language historical romance films English-language romantic comedy films Films about cousins Films based on adaptations Films based on American novels Films based on Romeo and Juliet Films based on young adult literature Films produced by Shawn Levy Films set in the 14th century Films scored by Drum & Lace Films scored by Ian Hultquist Films shot in Tuscany Films with screenplays by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber Hulu original films