If you've seen The Spectacular Now, you know exactly why this article exists, and if you haven't, what are you doing even reading? Get out of here now and go see it immediately! James Ponsoldt's warm, heartfelt and, well, spectacular new movie came out Aug. 2, and will have a limited release throughout this lovely land of ours.
But the limited availability is no excuse to miss The Spectacular Now, a coming-of-age tale starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley as two different teens drawn together despite their disparate backgrounds. The film is beautifully made and written and I could continue talking all day about how amazing it is, but I've already done that. So, my fellow Spectacular Now fans, let's recap the summer movie that took our breath away. Here are the four most beautiful moments in The Spectacular Now, and why they made our heart stop.
1) Aimee and Sutter's First Kiss
Not only is the cinematography of this scene super interesting (it's all one take!), it feels like we too have walked in those woods in our own teenaged lives, having weird roundabout discussions about past relationships. To boot, the kiss is the stuff of teenage dreams — sweet and quick and happy. The high-school-me that lives somewhere in my heart did a little dance, because that is exactly what first kisses should be like (and never were like).
2) When Aimee Lets Sutter Dance With Cassidy
Oh, the anguish of a first love that doesn't love you quite as much. There is an element of continuity to this particular type of pain in The Spectacular Now, because Aimee grows through her relationship with Sutter. But it is painfully clear that he has much more growing to do than she does. He experiences their relationship through the lens of his other problems, whereas she does not. (This should sound familiar to anyone who dated in high school.) The scene in the film when she accepts his lie that he didn't notice Cassidy's dancing goes down like a shard of glass in your throat.
3) When Aimee Asks Sutter To Come To Philadelphia With Her After Prom
This particular scene made my heart feel like it was being squeezed. Aimee is so shyly excited, and her inflection reminds us of the way we all phrase questions messily when the answer matters more than we care to admit. More heartbreaking yet is the clear, unspoken "no" of Sutter's response. Aimee is the only person who doesn't know that Sutter will disappoint her, and I think the theater breathed a collective sigh as we all watched this unfold.
4) All of it
Seriously. If you don't walk out feeling like your heart is about to burst through your ribs and puddle somewhere near your stomach, I might be inclined to believe you don't have a soul. The Spectacular Now crawls through you and changes what's in there, so see it and decide for yourself, because every moment has something special and meaningful for someone, you just have to figure out which ones are yours.
