“The First Time” wants to be a coming-of-age romance that feels lived-in and spontaneous. It mostly succeeds at the spontaneity part, and mostly fails at the lived-in part.
Jon Kasdan directs his own script, and the result is a film that knows exactly how to make a party feel chaotic and a bedroom feel intimate. What it doesn’t know is how to make its characters feel fully formed.
Trailer, via Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Aubrey and Dave Meet
The setup is simple and effective. Dave Hodgman, a high school senior, meets junior Aubrey Miller at a house party after the police bust it. Aubrey asks Dave to walk her home, even though she has a boyfriend named Ronny. They talk, drink wine, and fall asleep together.
That first night sets the tone. The film understands the electricity between two people who haven’t met before. It doesn’t understand why Aubrey would keep seeing Ronny after she clearly connects with Dave.
Ronny’s Problem
Ronny is the film’s biggest weakness. He exists as a convenient obstacle, a guy who doesn’t get Aubrey and doesn’t treat her well. The film treats his jealousy and his drunken boasting as character development, but they read as excuses for conflict rather than genuine human behavior.
Jane’s Problem
Dave’s best friend Jane Harmon is another loose thread. Dave pines for her, but the film never gives us a clear sense of why he can’t have her. His crush feels like a plot device rather than a feeling we can understand.
The Party Scene
The best scenes in “The First Time” happen outside the bedroom. The party scene, where the police arrive and everyone scrambles, has real energy. So does the sequence where Dave and Aubrey cruise around town after she breaks up with Ronny.
These moments work because the film trusts its actors to sell the chemistry. Dylan O’Brien and Britt Robertson play off each other with a natural ease that carries the film when the writing falters.
The Weak Link
The film’s weakest moments come from its own insistence on making everything neat. Dave’s realization that he’d rather be with Aubrey than Jane feels earned because it matches what we’ve seen. The ending, where Aubrey texts him to pick her up and they drive off together, feels earned too.
But the middle stretch, where Dave tries to stop Aubrey from sleeping with Ronny, feels forced. The film wants to teach Aubrey a lesson about respecting herself, but it delivers that lesson through a near-fight with Dave’s friends. It’s a clumsy way to resolve a story about self-respect.
The Verdict
“The First Time” is a film that knows how to capture a moment but struggles to build a world around it. The performances are solid, the dialogue is sharp, and the central romance is genuinely appealing. But the script leans on convenient obstacles and half-baked motivations to create tension, and that tension never fully pays off.
It’s a film worth watching for its energy and its chemistry, but not one that rewards repeated viewing. The magic of the first meeting is the whole point, and the film can’t sustain that magic beyond the weekend.
5.5 of 10.
- The party scene — energetic, chaotic, and real.
- Dave and Aubrey’s first night together — the film’s emotional peak.
- Aubrey’s breakup with Ronny — the moment the story finally clicks.
- The near-fight with Dave’s friends — the film’s weakest moment.
- The final drive-off — a satisfying, if obvious, conclusion.
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