Hulu’s ‘Rosaline’ Gives Romeo and Juliet a Happy Ending… Kinda

It’s hard to think of a more quintessential tragedy than Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It’s the most famous unhappy ending of all time—starcrossed lovers whose love is doomed both take their own life. And the irony of it all? It’s all thanks to a big misunderstanding. Oof! It makes your heart ache just thinking about it.
Leave it to Disney, then, to take this renowned tragedy and give it a happy ending in Hulu’s Rosaline, which began streaming on Hulu today. (Technically, it’s a
20th Century Studios film, which is now owned by Disney.) To be fair, this retelling of Romeo and Juliet, which is based on the 2012 novel When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle, is more of a fun-loving, romantic comedy romp. It wouldn’t exactly fit the tone to end with a double suicide.
Nevertheless, it’s jarring to watch Romeo and Juliet live happily ever after… sort of. Rosaline‘s “happy ending” comes with some caveats. Read on for the Rosaline plot summary and Rosaline ending explained.

WHAT IS THE ROSALINE PLOT SUMMARY?

Kaitlyn Dever stars as Rosaline, a young noblewoman who is the niece of the very important Lord Capulet. Rosaline is in the midst of a secret, torrid romance with the dreamy Romeo (Kyle Allen), the son of the House of Montague, whom are fierce rivals with the Capulets. (This likely all sounds familiar to anyone who took a 9th-grade English course.)
Rosaline invites Romeo to a Capulet masquerade ball, a chance for an anonymous date in a public setting. But she gets held up on a date set up by her father (Bradley Whitford) with a handsome suitor named Dario (Sean Teale). Ditched by Rosaline, Romeo meets a beautiful woman named Juliet (Isabela Merced) at the ball, aka Rosaline’s cousin. Romeo stops returning Rosaline’s letters, stops visiting her, and starts visiting Juliet’s window instead.
Rosaline, heartbroken, attempts to sabotage their relationship. She tells Juliet that Romeo is a player and encourages her to keep her options open. She convinces her best friend Paris (Spencer Stevenson)—who, in this version of Romeo and Juliet, is the stereotypical gay best friend—to propose to Juliet, to use her as a beard. But Romeo keeps writing to Juliet heartfelt letters—far more heartfelt than he ever was with Rosaline. And when Juliet finds out that Romeo is Rosaline’s ex, she’s understandably furious.

The events of Romeo and Juliet more or less play out: Romeo and Juliet secretly wed. Romeo duels with Juliet’s cousin Tybalt and kills him, and their secret marriage is revealed. Juliet comes up with a plan to run away with her husband: She will take a potion that will put her in a death-like coma. She sends a message to Romeo explaining her plan. Of course, the message never reaches Romeo.
But luckily, this is not Romeo and Juliet. This is Rosaline.

WHAT IS THE ROSALINE ENDING, EXPLAINED?

Rosaline, having realized that Romeo and Juliet’s love is true, enlists her suitor Dario to help Juliet. They meet up with Juliet, Juliet explains her plan, then passes out from the potion’s effects. Dario runs off, leaving Rosaline caught with an unconscious Juliet. Rosaline is locked away but escapes with the help of her father. Rosaline rushes to where Juliet has been “lain to rest,” terrified that she is too late to warn Romeo of Juliet’s plan.
But when she gets there, she learns that Dario has already filled Romeo in. Rosaline suggests both Romeo take the potion too, so they can both play dead. As the Capulets and Montagues mourn their children, Juliet wakes up from her potion. She quickly kisses Romeo and fakes her own death again.
Thus, unlike in Shakespeare’s ironic tragedy, Juliet’s plan is a success. Now officially “dead” to their families, the star-crossed lovers are able to run away together. And they do, in a boat, to Cyprus. A happy ending!
Or is it? As Romeo and Juliet sail off into the horizon, they struggle to find anything to talk about. It’s like the ending of The Graduate, but worse. Their attempts at conversation in a mid-credits scene are painful. “Do you like sports?” Romeo tries. “Not really,” Juliet responds. He tries again: “Do you like… food?”

“Just 7 more hours to go,” Juliet sighs.

“Then the rest of our lives,” Romeo replies.
Yikes! Did these two just blow up their lives and make a huge mistake? It’s not quite “double suicide” levels of tragic, but a loveless marriage is a tragedy in its own way. Maybe Rosaline‘s ending isn’t so happy, after all.