Dear David is a Netflix Indonesia movie that has been creating buzz on social media. It follows the story of a teenage girl named Laras, played by Shenina Cinnamon, who harbors wild sexual fantasies about her school’s star football player, David, portrayed by Emir Mahira. Despite being a student leader and an achiever, Laras secretly pens her fantasies about David on a personal blog named “Dear David.”
Unexpectedly, Laras accidentally spills her drink on David’s shirt, resulting in the reemergence of her naughty fantasies. In a moment of recklessness, Laras logs into her blog and writes about her lustful imaginations of touching David’s body, unaware that the blog is now public. The aftermath of this incident leads to the spreading of Laras’s risqué stories to the entire school, jeopardizing her scholarship.
Dear David is directed by Lucky Kuswandi with Caitlin North Lewis as Dilla, Laras’s lesbian best friend. Lucky hopes to inspire young people with this coming-of-age film to care about self-love and self-compassion. However, the film’s plot is more intricate than the marketing hype of imagining teenagers’ wild imaginations.
A Complex Plot
Dear David’s storyline focuses on Laras, but it fails to explore other important characters further. For instance, there’s David’s panic attack issue and Dilla’s fondness for people of the same gender. The movie’s main theme is the rampant imagination of teenagers, but the director could have incorporated story arcs that delved deeper into the teenage characters’ lives.
The conflict of the story revolves around Laras’s blog and its risqué stories, but it feels shallow. The audience is waiting for the story to develop further. It creates a great deal of anticipation for those hoping to see how Laras will fix the damage caused by her careless actions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Dear David is a movie created from the hype of teenagers’ wild imaginations, yet its plot could be much more complex. Hopefully, directors and writers will appreciate the need to develop their characters more fully in future productions instead of sticking to a single storyline. Nevertheless, viewers who love romantic comedies and teenage drama will find Dear David entertaining.
