The In Between (2022)

The In Between earns its keep by treating teenage love and grief with a tender seriousness, then slipping in a supernatural “maybe” that feels less like a gimmick and more like the shape our minds give to loss. Arie Posin bathes the film in a dreamy, coastal melancholy—photography, old movies, music, and half-remembered places—so the romance lands as something lived-in rather than manufactured, and Joey King brings a raw, guarded vulnerability that makes every small choice feel enormous. It’s the kind of story that wants you to believe that love leaves fingerprints on the world, and it finds inventive, emotionally honest ways to show those traces without turning cynical. If you’re allergic to earnest, tear-jerking romance or prefer your sci-fi hard-edged and rule-bound, it may not be your wavelength—but if you’re open to a heartfelt, gently otherworldly catharsis, this one can sneak up on you.

The In Between is aiming for a dreamy, grief-soaked romance with a supernatural twist, using photography and “signs” from the afterlife to turn loss into meaning. If you’re allergic to manipulative tear-jerking, you’ll probably find the plot engineered rather than earned, with coincidences and symbolism that feel more like a checklist than an emotional gut-punch. Joey King commits and the movie has a soft, wistful look that occasionally lands, but the characters can come off as more “tragic romance archetypes” than real teenagers making messy choices. If you want grounded grief drama or smart sci‑fi rules, this may test your patience; if you like glossy, fate-driven love stories that lean hard into sentiment, it might work as a comfort watch.