“Just keep going.”

From Dear Evan Hansen.

Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) is starting his senior year of high school with a broken arm, lots of anxiety, and an assignment from his therapist to write an encouraging letter to himself each day. While not much about the new school year excites Evan, he is hopeful that he’ll finally build up the courage to speak with the beautiful Zoe Murphy (Kaitlyn Dever), but he quickly finds himself on the sidelines with his only somewhat friend Jared (Nik Dodani). While typing up his daily letter, Evan finds himself talking to Zoe’s older brother, the school’s angry loner, Connor (Colton Ryan). Connor signs Evan’s cast but then grabs Evan’s letter from the printer by mistake. Nervous that Connor will post the letter online, Evan waits for his challenges to be shared with the world, but nothing happens for several days. When Evan is summoned to the school office to speak with Connor’s mother (Amy Adams) and stepfather (Danny Pino), he is shocked to learn that Connor committed suicide with the letter in his pocket. While Evan tries to explain the truth about the letter, he soon finds himself at the Murphy house for dinner, embellishing the story of how he broke his arm to include Connor, the stranger that the Murphy family desperately hopes was Evan’s friend. While his mom (Julianne Moore) works overtime to cover bills, the lonely Evan finds himself creating more and more substance to his supposed friendship with Connor. When Evan’s speech at Connor’s memorial service goes viral, the school’s leading activist, Alana (Amandla Stenberg), begins working with Evan to create a memorial park for Connor. The attention threatens to destroy the comfort and bond that Evan has built with Connor’s family, as Evan struggles to find a way to protect the truth about his letter.

Based on the popular Broadway play, this moving drama is a captivating story, even for viewers that aren’t fans of musicals. Reprising his Broadway role as the lead, Platt impressively delivers his character’s thoughts and feelings to the viewer. This unique musical tackles some very painful issues, but overall, Dear Evan Hansen a heartfelt and genuine must-watch.

| Rated: PG-13 | Running Time: 137 minutes |Genre: drama/musical|

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 2* of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 1 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|