“My Dear Americans, the film you are about to see is a biopic of my life.” “The events take place, not so long ago, in a proud land called Wales. Wales is next to England, a country you pretend to treat as an equal. My homeland has produced Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Jones and some other people. You have not yet invaded my country and for this I thank you. Submarine is an important film. Watch it with respect. Fond regards from your protagonist, Oliver Tate.”

Submarine is a movie you would not think that would touch you as much as it does. Maybe I’m just the perfect age range to understand this movie but it really hit me. Craig Roberts plays Oliver Tate, a teen who wants to fix his parent’s marriage and spark a relationship with a classmate before his 16th birthday. The way this character is played is very relatable and while his entire situation may not be something everyone can relate to, his characteristics and mannerisms is something a lot of teenagers can understand. 

I may be partial to the movie since the soundtrack is provided by Alex Turner of one of my favorite bands, the Arctic Monkeys. His music is placed perfectly in this movie and matches the mood to each scene they feature a song in. The soft guitar based music matched with Turner’s soft vocals bring out the romantic melancholy feel of the movie. “Stuck on the Puzzle” feels like the anthem of this movie with its lyrics reminiscing on the narrator being infatuated with his love interest but she doesn’t feel the same as him. This song is almost exactly what this movie is about and Turner seems to be singing from Oliver’s perspective talking about classmate and love interest Jordana Bevin.

The movie takes you places you don’t expect to go. At times a little dark, it touches on subjects like losing a parent as a teenager, what it feels like to see your first love leave you to the fear of your parents splitting up . If you want a movie that will leave you with mixed emotions and almost pondering on our dear Oliver’s life and what could happen to him after the movie ends then this movie is perfect for you. The end of the movie really hit me. It’s so simple yet says so much and leaves you wondering what would have happened to the main characters after the movie ends. I find that doesn’t happen a lot with movies anymore, you end up knowing exactly what happens in the end. It’s refreshing to see something and use your imagination to figure out the ending.  

I really loved this movie. The story is beautifully written and the cinematography is amazing and so pretty just to look at. It helps that Wales is so beautiful as well, but everything about this film I just love. I think that many people should see this movie, especially teenagers. It covers a lot of subjects that are common with teenagers and I think it will hit a lot of other teens the same way that it hit me. The movie itself isn’t that deep, it just struck a chord with me that I think it will with other people. You can find the movie on Amazon prime or on iTunes.