Music holds a place in life that is unlike anything else, its ability to transport people back to certain moments, places, and people is unmatchable. Taking this concept, director Ned Benson crafts a harmonious fantasy-romance of reflection in The Greatest Hits.

Stuck in two years of grief from the tragic death of her boyfriend, Harriet has built a sheltered life avoiding anything that could trigger her like music. With the death of her boyfriend came a new ability: anytime a song plays that the couple heard together she is immediately transported to the exact moment in time. In a controlled environment, she tries to use this occurrence to find the exact song that could prevent the death of her boyfriend Max. Her condition prevents her from moving on, having both psychological and physical effects. She willingly puts herself through the pain of relieving her past with Max to find what will set her free from the never ending pain, Outside of that, she walks around with earplugs and massive noise-canceling headphones trying to keep a restricted life to avoid any time travel mishaps meaning she has let go of friendships and her life.

Though the music aspect is used to represent living with grief, it also works as a validating articulation of navigating anxiety. Harriet has closed herself off from the pleasures of life she once enjoyed to put herself out of danger from her triggers. Anxiety works similarly in that one can anticipate every wrong thing that could happen leading to a strict life not lived to the fullest. There is fear of letting the past creep in to overtake any progress one has felt they made and Harriet certainly has her own moments with the concept.

Instead of working through these emotions, it is easier to sometimes just turn them off, but it creates a never-ending cycle of dwelling that Harriet finds herself in after two years without Max. She had to cut off her work in music for a quiet life of solitude at the library with one friend left after pushing the rest away. These quick-fix choices can feel like solutions but how realistic is it for her to live her entire life with so many cautions placed around preventing her from living a life she got to keep in comparison to Max? These mirror what we do to address our anxieties and depression in the moment realizing the actual changes we must make to accept and heal these parts of us we try to hide to appeal to normal but are secretly making us weaker. Loss is leading her life for her and while she faces her grief through these musical memories it is more damaging than helpful. Harriet doesn’t know how to move past into a life without Max, he haunts her every step of the day. Even the shame that comes with explaining something so personal like grief to either friends or strangers is well communicated whether that is Harriet and her mom or a new person in her life: David.

David and Harriet find one another in a grief support group. Some magnetic force has pulled their two auras together from the moment they laid eyes on one another. Like Harriet, he is dealing with his grief from the recent passing of his parents. They experience the meet cute outside of the group in a record store leading them to be the exact person they need to be able to move on even if it comes with a difficult cost. When Harriet starts to let David into her world they start to sync like a perfect melody, but that doesn’t leave out the complications of her condition and his understanding of it.

The Greatest Hits tows the line of trying to save Harriet and Max while also opening back up her heart to let David in. There is no villain arc for the deceased Max in trying to convince the audience that she should let him go to move on. In a perfect world, she would be able to preserve the memories of both but sadly because this is a tragic love story Harriet has to learn to give up the love of her life for him and her to live. This also means hoping the strong connection between her and David will be able to navigate them back together in a universe where they never crossed paths.

Any movie featuring time travel comes with flaws in rules. As the story unravels The Greatest Hits manages to provide a simple explanation for Harriet’s time-traveling limitations and her relationship with David spawns the idea of how she can use it to control her destiny instead of setting her life in stone forever. The fantastical element is grounded by its three outstanding leads, Lucy Boynton as Harriet makes this extremely believable, almost like dealing with a health issue like depression or anxiety with an innovative visual aspect of transporting time communicated in its unique language. The transitions between past and present seamlessly move without interruption. It is the most fascinating part of the story to see how this travel method was concocted and Lucy is so committed to making it look real for Harriet. She is the perfect Harriet wearing her vulnerability and never losing the support of the audience through a journey that can be frustrating to follow at times, but the audience genuinely wants her to be able to figure out her dilemma. Opposite Justin H. Min, who should be a major movie star, they elate the excitement of a new relationship while she harbors the guilt of feeling like she is leaving Max behind for a new man.

Lucy is the perfect connector between her, David, and David Corenswet’s Max. The commanding chemistry makes up for some cringe moments of dialogue that never take you out of the realm of the story. In the limited screen time of Harriet and Max’s relationship, the passion is fully felt making that final moment of her realizing what she has to do feel like a knife in the chest painful mixing in the loss of David to ultimate heartbreak with the future of hope in store. A sincere take on the agony to release the past whether psychical or a memory it all happens the same way as we must be able to open ourselves up to new possibilities and connections throughout the mourning process. The music never hits as hard as it should for a film about the importance of music putting more weight onto the actors to deliver a spark to an interesting concept.

Truly a serene love letter to not only Los Angeles, but the brain’s relationship with music, The Greatest Hits is a love and loss story with enough space to fully breathe and sink into its greater message of navigating complex emotions and memories to heal.

Grade: A

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: None

Where to Watch: In Select Theaters, Streaming on Hulu

Jillian Chilingerian
she/her @JillianChili
Lives in LA. Loves Iced Americanos and slow burns.
Favorite Director: David Fincher
Sign: Leo