A grieving woman finds herself pulled into the past, as a new love interest enters in the present in The Greatest Hits. For the past two years, Harriet (Lucy Boynton) has been unable to let go of the memory of her boyfriend Max (David Corenswet), who died in a car accident. The reason for this is that a head injury Harriet received during the accident results in her travelling back in time whenever a song she and Max heard together begins to play. Despite her friend Morris (Austin Crute) insisting that she move on, Harriet has been trying to find the right song to allow her to return and save Max’s life. However, back in the present, Harriet meets David (Justin H. Min) at a grief support group, which allows her to find love in the present.
The Greatest Hits Synopsis
The Greatest Hits is a fantastical romantic dramedy written and directed by Ned Benson (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby). The film stars Lucy Boynton (Sing Street, Bohemian Rhapsody) as Harriet, who finds herself in a love triangle through time between her current love interest David, played by Justin H. Min (After Yang), and her dead boyfriend Max, played by David Corenswet (Pearl, Superman), the latter of whom Harriet hopes to save using her ability to travel back in time for the duration of a single song. Because of the uncontrollable nature of her ability, Harriet has to wear noise-cancelling headphones to avoid travelling through time at inopportune moments. Harriet has to choose whether she wants to hold onto her memory of Max or move on to a new future with David.
My Thoughts on The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits tackles themes such as the connection between music and memory, as well as learning to move on after experiencing a great loss. Harriet and David meet at a grief support group run by Dr. Evelyn Bartlett (Parks and Recreation‘s Retta) and they both have personal issues that they have to deal with. While Harriet refuses to move on from the death of her boyfriend Max, David is insistent on keeping his late parent’s antique store open.
Harriet and David end up finding a connection over their mutual love of Roxy Music and David seems like the best chance for Harriet to move on from her love of Max. However, as she is literally pulled back in time to her former love, it becomes extremely difficult for Harriet to move to a new relationship. Eventually, she has to make a very difficult choice.
The musical focus of The Greatest Hits hearkens back to star Lucy Boynton’s breakout role in 2016’s Sing Street, even though this film is much more of a typical rom-com. While the fantastical time travel is an interesting plot element, The Greatest Hits still utilizes many of the usual rom-com cliches. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, it’s just that The Great Hits ends up being a rather unremarkable film. Perhaps it’s for that reason that the film is going straight to streaming.