Such Sweet Sorrow (2023)

Such Sweet Sorrow is an upcoming romantic drama comedy film, set to be released in 2023. The film is a re-imagining of the story of Romeo and Juliet, but takes place in modern-day America and is more humorous. The film's title comes from the line, "Parting is such sweet sorrow," from the original Romeo and Juliet story.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for brutal fight scenes and sexual content

Plot
Juliet Capulet is the 17-year-old daughter of strict, rich parents, who expect nothing but the best from her, and are very overbearing. Her cousin Tybalt is a bully, and is often seen picking on those he considers below him. At school one afternoon, Juliet witnesses a fist fight between Tybalt and some students related to the Montagues, a rival family to the Capulets. Benvolio Montague attempts to break up the fight, and is nearly beat to a pulp by Tybalt before the vice principal, Mr. Prince, breaks up the fight. Mr. Prince later announces over the intercom that the fights between students at Verona High School have been happening far too many times, and that any students caught fighting in the future will be expelled.

Meanwhile, Benvolio's cousin, Romeo, has recently broken up with Rosaline, a girl he had previously dated. Still upset that Rosaline is no longer interested in him, Romeo is encouraged by both Benvolio and a nerdy student named Friar Laurence to seek out other interests. But Romeo has so far been unable to find any hobbies.

At her home, Juliet's parents try to encourage to seek out men to start dating, and try to set her up with Paris, a friend of Tybalt. Juliet however wants to remain independent, and tries to avoid any conversation with them about Paris. After an argument that ends with her mother stomping out of the room, Juliet rebelliously decides to hold a party at her house during the weekend while her parents are away. She spends the next day telling friends at school about the party, which Mercutio Prince, the rebellious son of the vice principal, overhears.

Mercutio, being a friend of Romeo, encourages him to go to the party, telling him that Rosaline will be there along with other girls that he can hook up with if things don't go well with her. Romeo agrees to go as long as Benvolio and Mercutio accompany him.

On Saturday night, Juliet's parents depart to go on a business trip, and a large amount of people, both known and unknown to Juliet, arrive at her house to party. Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio also arrive, and Romeo attempts to hook back up with Rosaline, but is saddened when she makes clear that she's already dating somebody else. Juliet meanwhile is shocked when she discovers that some of the guests have brought alcohol to the party, and attempts to dump it. One of the drunk guests that the alcohol belonged to tries to make moves on her, which she tries to avoid, and Romeo notices and drives the man away, afterwards taking Juliet to a private room to let her rest. Having never met her before, and not realizing that she is Juliet, the daughter of the rival family, he begins a conversation with her, and they realize that they have a lot in common. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the police, who arrest some of the people who brought alcohol while others are tested with breathalyzers. Romeo figures out during the commotion that Juliet is the one who was holding the party, and comes to the realization that she is part of the rival family. Later, Tybalt tells Juliet that he saw one of his rivals rushing out the door during the commotion, and shows Juliet a picture of him, and Juliet is shocked to discover that he is Romeo.

After everybody has cleared out, Juliet goes up to her room alone and stares out the window as she laments aloud that Romeo is the son of the rival family. Unknown to her, Romeo is sitting beside the house and overhears her. He reveals that he heard everything that she said, and that he doesn't know what they can do to help the situation. He tells her that he still likes her even though she is part of a rival family, and that he'll never let anybody change that.

The next day, Romeo visits Friar, and asks him about the situation. Friar suggests that Romeo bring Juliet over as well for him to meet, and Romeo agrees. He sends Juliet a text, telling her that one of his good friends wants to meet her, and Juliet arrives a few hours later. Friar tells Romeo and Juliet that there is nothing wrong with them liking each other, and further scolds Romeo for criticizing the Capulet family, telling him that the bonding between the two of them might just end the feud forever.

Juliet arrives home to discover that her parents have returned from their business trip, and Mrs. Capulet is angry with her for holding the party the night before, especially due to the police being involved. Meanwhile, Tybalt is planning revenge on Romeo for daring to go to Juliet's house the night before. He packs a firearm in his school bag, despite rules against bringing guns to school.

The next morning, Tybalt confronts Romeo outside the school and challenges him to a fight. Taking Friar's words to mind, Romeo declines to accept the challenge. Tybalt follows Romeo around and starts punching him, trying to antagonize him and get him to fight back, but Romeo continues to ignore him. Tybalt begins punching him harder and harder, and Mercutio sees what's happening and socks Tybalt in the face. Tybalt is furious and tries to attack Mercutio, who runs outside to try to hide. Tybalt pulls the gun from his bag and shoots Mercutio three times with it. Romeo leaps on Tybalt to try to stop him, and during the struggle Tybalt accidentally shoots himself in the head, which kills him instantly. Romeo talks to the wounded Mercutio, who tries to remain tough but dies within a few minutes, much to Romeo's shock. Some friends of Tybalt walk up and see Tybalt's body. Believing that Romeo antagonized Tybalt and shot him directly, they begin beating him up, but Romeo escapes and runs away.

The school goes on lock-down for a few hours before classes are cancelled for the rest of the day, and Juliet is saddened that Romeo is now a criminal suspect. Romeo meanwhile seeks shelter in Friar's house. He tells Friar that he feels shame at what has happened, and that he would rather kill himself than live through the pain. Friar scolds him for having these kinds of thoughts, and tells him that what he did was an accident, and that he might not even be found guilty of the crime. They are surprised by the arrival of Juliet, who tells Romeo that she holds no blame against him for Tybalt's death, and that she's sorry that his friend died. Romeo realizes that Juliet is someone in life who's worth living for, and the three of them spend the entire night watching movies at Friar's house.

The next morning, Romeo tells Juliet and Friar that he will be driving away to the outskirts of the city to hide in the country until the murder case goes down. They agree, and Romeo heads off in his car. When Juliet arrives home, her mother begins questioning her about where she's been all night, but Juliet refuses to tell her. Angry, Mrs. Capulet tells Juliet that she must begin dating Paris, or she will be grounded for two months. Juliet tries to protest, saying that she and Paris have nothing in common, and that she wants to find love for herself without being forced, which sends even her father into a rage. In tears, Juliet runs out of the house and back to Friar's, where she she sneaks into his science lab to find poison to kill herself with. Friar however catches her just in time and stops her, telling her how miserable her friends, family, and Romeo would feel if she did such a thing. But her actions also give him an idea, and he gives her a small bottle of a potion he's made, telling her that consumption of it will allow her to fall into a deep sleep and appear dead, which will fool her parents and allow Friar to form an elaborate plan of having Juliet wake back up without her parents knowing, and run off with Romeo to the country to stay until the murder case blows over, while Friar will attempt to make it look like Juliet's "corpse" was stolen. Juliet agrees to put the plan into motion, and Friar sends a text to Romeo, telling him to sneak back into town to drive Juliet into the country when she awakens. Unknown to him however, Romeo has accidentally left his phone in Friar's TV room, and doesn't receive the text.

Mrs. Montague pays a visit to the Capulets in the evening to tell them that she feels truly sorry for the loss of their nephew, and though they still despise their rivals, they allow Mrs. Montague to go upstairs to talk to Juliet about it. Juliet meanwhile pours the potion into her drink and swallows the mixture, and Mrs. Montague enters her room just in time to see her pass out. In a panic, Mrs. Montague runs back downstairs to tell the Capulets what has happened, and they rush back upstairs to find Juliet "dead" on the floor with the empty glass that she drank out of laying next to her and the potion bottle sitting on the table. Believing that Mrs. Montague herself poured the "poison" into her drink, Mr. Capulet calls Mrs. Montague a "murderer" and flies into a rage, shoving her down the stairs and beating her up repeatedly. The ambulance arrives, and Juliet is proclaimed dead while Mrs. Montague is taken to the hospital for her injuries and Mr. Capulet is arrested.

At the hospital, Mrs Montague shares some last words with her husband before dying of her injuries, which sends Mr. Montague into a fit of tears that drives him mad. That night, he calls many of his friends and relatives, telling them that he wants revenge on the Capulets for murdering his wife. At the same time, Mrs. Capulet plans revenge on the Montagues for murdering her daughter.

The next day, a large group of Montague family members and their friends meet in an area of town, planning to ambush the Capulets and kill them. At the same time, a large group of Capulet family members and their friends meet in a different part of town, planning to ambush the Montagues and kill them. Romeo meanwhile catches a news broadcast on TV, about his mother and Juliet's deaths, and he races back to town in a panic. In the center of town, the two rival groups meet and begin fighting each other with guns, sticks, stones, knives, and other weapons, many of the people being killed. Friar watches the brawl on a live news broadcast, and wonders why Romeo is taking so long to arrive. He sends another text to Romeo, telling him that Juliet will awake soon, and hears Romeo's phone notification sound from under a stack of DVDs. Realizing that Romeo doesn't know about the plan, he rushes to Juliet's house, hoping to get there before Romeo does something rash.

Romeo arrives at Juliet's house in a miserable rage, and is confronted by Paris, who blames Romeo for Juliet's death, believing that Juliet killed herself over the death of Tybalt. They begin fighting, which ends with Paris falling out the window to his death, and Romeo enters Juliet's room to find her "dead." Not feeling any will left to live, Romeo pulls out a phial of poison deadly poison (which he stole from Friar earlier in the movie) and drinks it. Juliet wakes up just as he does this, and Romeo realizes his foolishness and dies in Juliet's arms. Friar arrives a few seconds later and realizes that the plan has completely failed. Juliet bursts into tears that Romeo is dead, and searches around the house for a knife to kill herself with. But Friar stops her and tells her that her death will not solve anything, and that the two rival families are already at war with each other over the events surrounding her "death."

Juliet realizes that she might be able to stop the brawl if her family discovers that she's still alive, and tells Friar to drive her to the center of town where the fight is taking place. Despite his fears that they might get killed during the commotion, Friar agrees to take her. When Friar drives his car into the center of town, his tires are shot out by some of the fighters, and he crashes violently into the side of a building, causing Juliet to break an arm. Two friends of the Montague family break into the car and stab Juliet several times, not realizing that she is Juliet. Friar manages to knock the men out with a special vapor he's prepared, and helps the bleeding Juliet walk into the center of the commotion, where both Mr. Montague and Mrs. Capulet see her alive. Juliet tells her mother about her involvement with Romeo, and how the terrible feud has caused nothing but trouble and grief for everybody. Friar gives a speech to everybody standing around in shock, including the police who have come to break up the fight. He tells them that their rivalry with each other has not only caused pain for many people but has also cost them the life of Romeo, and possibly Juliet as well, if she should die of her wounds. Realizing what they've done, the Capulets and Montagues reconcile with each other, and many of the injured people, including Juliet, are rushed to the hospital.

Mr. Montague goes to visit Mrs. Capulet in Juliet's hospital room, where Juliet is in critical condition. He tells both of them that he is glad that Juliet made friends with his son, and that he wishes he could have been a better man than he was, not having such a petty rivalry with Juliet's family. Mrs. Capulet tells Mr. Montague that she's also sorry, and that she hopes she can be on better terms with the Montagues for the rest of her life. The two shake hands with each other, and Juliet smiles at them before closing her eyes and dying of her injuries.

The film cuts to Heaven, where Juliet enters a royal palace and is reunited with Romeo. Mercutio and Mrs. Montague look on happily, as Romeo and Juliet hug each other with joy.

List of Characters

 * Juliet Capulet, the main character of the film. A 17 year old girl, Juliet is under extreme pressure from her parents to please them in exactly the way they want. This includes finding someone to marry someday, which Juliet feels should wait until the right person comes along. She becomes enamored with Romeo Montague, the son of a rival family, and this infatuation only increases when she discovers he's supposed to be her enemy.
 * Romeo Montague, Juliet's love interest in the film. He is depressed after his previous girlfriend breaks up with him, and thinks he will never find anybody better. This changes when he meets Juliet and realizes that the two of them have a lot in common. Romeo is initially in support of his parents' position of being enemies with the Capulets, but softens up after being given advice by his friend Friar.
 * Benvolio Montague, Romeo's cousin and good friend. Unlike Romeo, Benvolio wants to make peace among the two rival families, and is considerate of the fact that not all Capulets are prejudiced. Benvolio is a peace-maker, and is often seen trying to stop the fights on the school grounds.
 * Tybalt Capulet, Juliet's cousin, and the main human protagonist of the film (the main antagonist overall is simply prejudice and hatred between the two families). Tybalt is an angry, prejudiced person, and hates all Montagues, especially Romeo. He never hesitates to beat the living daylights out of anybody he considers an enemy.
 * Mr. Prince, the vice principal of Verona High School. He only appears in one major scene, stopping a fight between students.
 * Mercutio Prince, Mr. Prince's son, and Romeo's best friend. He is always seen goofing around, and is the class clown of the school. Although he is not prejudiced against anybody, he is quick to anger, and won't hesitate to beat up anybody that tries to harm one of his friends.
 * Paris, a friend of Tybalt's. The Capulets try to set him up on a date with Juliet.
 * Mrs. Capulet, Juliet's mother. She is the more overbearing of the two parents, and won't take no for an answer from Juliet. She hates the Montague family.
 * Mr. Capulet, Juliet's father. Although he is more patient and understanding of Juliet and the Montagues than his wife, he eventually snaps and tells Juliet she must go on a date with Paris, and this eventually leads to him attempting murder on Mrs. Montague after he believes she killed Juliet.
 * Mr. Montague, Romeo's father, and head of the Montague family. Although not as prejudiced as Mrs. Capulet, he still holds a lot of disdain for the Capulet family, and snaps after his wife dies by Mr. Capulet's hands.
 * Mrs. Montague, Romeo's mother. She wants to make peace with the Capulets, but her husband has too much power over her,
 * Rosaline, Romeo's ex-girlfriend. She left Romeo for another boy prior to the beginning of the film.
 * Friar Laurence, a friend of Romeo. He is a nerdy student at Verona High School who is often seen working on scientific experiments. He is a Christian, and regards the rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues to be very petty.