There are countless films about the end of relationships and the heroine’s difficulty in moving on, so it cannot be said that Greatest Hits is in the field of originality. Not even because of the support that the narrative has on top of a soundtrack full of songs from the 1980s, it is still a film that fulfills its mission: it warms our hearts and moves us with its conclusion. Find the right song, and change your past. Find the right person, change your future, says the poster with a perfect summary of the plot.

Before commenting on the details, let’s summarize the story: we meet Harriet (Lucy Boynton), a young woman who lives in a studiously isolated universe – especially in sound – but who, when she’s at home alone, uses music to literally go back in time and reunite with her boyfriend Max (David Corenswet). We quickly realize that Max has died and that Harriet has been in constant mourning for two years.

This happens because upon discovering that the songs she listened to with him open a portal in time, her goal is to change History and save him. But to do that, she needs to find the last melody they heard together, something she hasn’t managed to do yet. Emotionally trapped in the past, Harriet is confronted with the present when she meets David (Justin H. Min) at a grief therapy group. With their natural involvement, she needs to decide what her future will be like and the choice is not easy.

First a question: who doesn’t keep in their heart that special song that emotionally transports you to a moment in the past? I have my playlists for trips, for weeks, for meetings and disagreements. Some have lost their effect, others keep it intact. I can go back to the road trip with my family or to any ordinary day where the laughter with friends or exes warms my heart. Music really is that portal and the fact that writer and director Ned Benson bet on literal fantasy is very interesting.

His inspiration reportedly came in 2008, when he read Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, written by neurologist Oliver Sacks and which discusses the connections between music and memory. The director, who was successful with films such as The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and Black Widow, always knew how to use songs precisely to support the story, but here, the soundtrack would be even more essential. The script began to be written in 2009 and only during the forced break of the pandemic did he return to it.

If you ever think about The Butterfly Effect meets 500 Days of Summer, you’re right: they are both films with a more hopeful air. Furthermore, considering that it is a reissue of what the director has done before, others have also noticed. He defends himself: “This is a magically real story,” he said at the time of release. “It’s about the beginnings of relationships, the things we hold on to, and how one relationship can be necessary to move on to the next.”

In just an hour and a half, which passes quickly, Greatest Hits is our portal to universal experiences of loss, doubt, longing, and new beginnings. Even the tragedy is handled gently, making us connect with Harriet’s past, and present and dream about the future, reflected in impeccable musical taste. Although there were critics who hoped that the film would seek the reason and practice of how the portals are opened, or even why only Harriet seems to be “afflicted” by the problem (she has no control: if she hears music on the street that opens the portal, she passes out and travels through time and stays there for as long as the song lasts), we don’t go down that road. It doesn’t really matter, we understand the metaphor!

In every story that demands an irreversible choice from the protagonist, there is the anguish of giving up so much of what is good or what could be. Exactly like Sliding Doors, the conclusion is sweet and comforting. Greatest Hits is on Star Plus (which after the end of June 2024 will be just Disney Plus). If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss it. And you will want to make Playlists. I’ll update mine!

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