Entertainment

‘The Sun Is Also A Star’ Trailer Will Make You See Reggie From ‘Riverdale’ In A Whole New Way

by Maitri Suhas

Get ready for your new favorite young adult romance because the first trailer for The Sun Is Also A Star was released on Wednesday, Feb. 6, and, it looks like it will definitely make you swoon, and then make you cry. The film, based on the young adult novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon, stars Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish) as Natasha and Charles Melton (Riverdale) as Daniel, two strangers who have a harrowing meet-cute in New York and fall in love. And while you can bet that there's plenty adorableness in the clip, there’s also a hint of a more somber subplot.

In the trailer, Natasha and Daniel meet when Daniel literally saves her life by saving her from getting hit by a car. He’s a hopeless romantic who believes in love at first sight, while Natasha is a skeptic who tells him she doesn’t believe in love. And just like that, the romance has begun. Of course, like any good rom-com, The Sun Is Also a Star starts with a bet: Daniel asks her for one day to make her fall in love with him. She gives him an hour.

But the deeper story is the danger of Natasha’s family being deported back to Jamaica, and in an interview with People, Shahidi said that this immigration plotline is just as important as the romance. “We’ve also witnessed on a regular basis that there has never been a moment in which people of immigrant families have had the peace of mind that where they’re going they’re able to call home,” Shahidi said. “And because of that, it was really important that this storyline was made so serious and taken as seriously as the love story itself. It is not peripheral to the storyline.”

Both Shahidi and Melton know about the immigrant experience in their real lives. Shahidi’s father is from Iran, making her a first-generation American on his side, and Melton's mother did not become a U.S. citizen until he was 13, according to People. His character Daniel is also struggling with his identity as a first-generation Korean-American whose parents want him to become a doctor rather than pursue his passion for poetry. "He struggles with kind of two different identities," Melton told People. "Not only his identity of being Korean-American, but also with his identity as far as what he wants to do."

Melton went on to say that the love story in The Sun Is Also A Star goes beyond the story of Natasha and Daniel. "To see the humanity, to see a story beyond someone being labeled as an immigrant,” he told People. “The Sun Is Also a Star is for anyone who believes in love or the idea of love.”

This movie already has everything: two adorable leads with great chemistry, a fated, life-saving event, a bet about falling in love, and a very real threat that will tear them apart. Swoon! The Sun Is Also A Star doesn't premiere until May 17, but until then, you can read Nicola Yoon's young adult novel. If you don't want spoilers, there's always rewatching To All The Boys I've Loved Before to get your young adult romance fix.