Dumplin' Movie Review

This weekend, Netflix released another YA book adaption (honestly still dreaming about To All The Boys I've Loved Before), this time being Dumplin'. I read this book this past summer and adored every aspect of it. It is moving, funny and entertaining. Willowdean's story can be reflected in the lives of so many real girls. Maybe my story is different than Will's but I can still see myself in her story.
The movie portrayed the beautiful theme of the book perfectly. Willowdean is confident and self conscious all at the same time, and she is always determined. The liveliness of her character is wonderfully portrayed by Danielle Macdonald.
While the plot of this story remains fairly low stakes, the movie makes this small story create a big effect. It is a story of a girl who has never quite fit in, but instead of searching for a way to do so, she decides to push the envelope even farther. By joining her mother's beauty pageant, she brings the spotlight on herself and makes a statement. She embraces her differences and forces other to see her own version of beauty. 
This movie was beautiful and heartfelt, capturing the same soul of the book. Not every detail was kept the same, but Willowdean carried the essence of the movie just like the book. Bo seemed to play a much smaller role in the movie, which was honestly disappointing as he was a fantastic character in the book. He recognized Willowdean's true beauty, inside and out. In the movie, a lot of the attention was shifted on their relationship to focus more on the internal growth of Will, which I understand but it felt like we missed out on a lot. The slow romance between Bo and Willowdean was a delicate and stunning love story that mirrored Will's journey as she learned to love herself as well. Though, the scene we did get with Bo were still amazingly sweet. 
Beyond that, the movie seemed to keep to the book incredibly well. It portrayed the complex friendships and the strained mother and daughter relationship. The emotions ran deep through this story, creating a response in every audience member. 
Every person who has every felt out of place suddenly could feel not so alone. Every person who felt too fat, too thin, too short, not pretty enough or perfect enough. They looked at Willowdean walk out on that stage in head to toe sequence lip syncing to Dolly Parton, and they saw themselves. They forgot about those negative thought that plagued their minds and they smiled. 
I smiled. 

 Thank you, Willowdean, for reminding us all that we are just as beautiful as everyone else. And that every body is a swimsuit body. 



xoxo 

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