The Sun Is Also a Star (2019)

The Sun Is Also a Star is the kind of romance that makes a single day feel like a whole lifetime, capturing that electric, city-swept feeling when chance encounters start to look like fate. Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton have an easy, bright chemistry that turns New York into a living backdrop—subways, street corners, family shops—while the film gently threads in real stakes about identity, ambition, and what it costs to belong. Its vibe is wistful and optimistic, more fluttering heartbeat than melodramatic sob story, with cultural details that give the love story texture instead of gloss. If you need airtight realism, the premise may feel a touch storybook, but if you’re open to a sincere, tender crowd-pleaser, it’s a warm reminder that one day can change everything.

The Sun Is Also a Star wants to be a sweeping, one-day New York romance with real stakes, using immigration pressure and family expectations to give the love story urgency. The problem is it leans so hard on coincidence and big “fate” speeches that the relationship can feel more like a screenplay mandate than something two real people are building, which makes the emotional punches land softer than they should. It also gestures at heavier themes—especially deportation—without digging deep enough to feel earned, so you may leave thinking it played it safe when it could’ve been braver. Still, the leads are likable, the city-at-night vibe is pleasant, and if you’re in the mood for a clean, earnest YA-style romance that runs on optimism more than realism, it’ll do the job.