Young Werther – TIFF 2024

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An idealistic man pine over an engaged woman in Young Werther. Werther (Douglas Booth) has arrived in Toronto on a pit stop before embarking on a trip to Europe. However, Werther ends up falling head-over-heels for Charlotte (Alison Pill) when he meets her in a bar and won’t even let the fact that she is engaged to incredibly likeable lawyer Albert (Patrick J. Adams) from preventing him from being with her.

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Young Werther Synopsis

Young Werther is a romantic comedy written and directed by José Lourenço and is a modernized adaptation of the 1776 novella The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The film stars Douglas Booth (Jupiter Ascending, Loving Vincent, Unwelcome) as the titular Werther, who arrives in Toronto with germaphobe friend Paul (Jaouhar Ben Ayed) to acquire a house statue from his lawyer uncle (Scott Thompson). However, Werther extends his trip when he meets Charlotte and decides to be her best friend, while secretly hoping to be with her.

My Thoughts on Young Werther

Young Werther is a better than average romantic comedy, thanks in no small part to the chemistry between Douglas Booth and Alison Pill as Werther and Charlotte and a supporting cast that includes Iris Apatow (This is 40) as Charlotte’s sister Sissy and Amrit Kaur (The Queen of My Dreams) as Charlotte’s best friend Melanie. Most memorable is Patrick J. Adams (The Swearing Jar) as Albert, who goes against the stereotype of the rival love interest of having to be an unlikeable jerk. While I’m not sure how faithful Young Werther is to its 18th century source material, it is ultimately a quite charming romantic comedy.

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