We’ve all heard the story of Romeo and Juliet, but this time from the perspective of an ex,
Rosalin.
The scene opens with a disheveled Romeo coming out of bushes and shrubs.
His face lights up at the sight of Rosalin, who stands at the Balcony waiting for him.
Romeo climbs up the window and they share an intimate moment.
They meet under the veil of darkness, so that their meeting remains unseen.
Their families, Montague and Capulet, have been in a feud for years, and the mere sight
of them together will bring forth nothing but trouble.
He charms her with poetic lines, comparing her to the most beautiful ornaments.
Romeo nearly falls during his proclamation of love but still continues.
Rosalin finds it dramatic yet doesn’t object, as the words being said are by her lover.
Their moment is cut short when the voice of Rosalin’s father alerts them both.
Rosalin instructs him to hide, and he does.
Her father comes to check on her when he hears someone talking.
Rosalin pretends she was asleep and only woke up to use the restroom.
She doesn’t wait for her father, who is still talking, and closes the door on his
face.
She runs back to Romeo, who starts reading poetry from where he had left.
Rosalin shares her concern that if their relationship remains a secret forever, no one is ever going
to know about their love.
Romeo reassures her that one day they will succeed through the power of love, and they
will be famous.
Romeo leaves and disappears in the darkness.
Standing on her balcony, Rosalin wonders that if they will ever become a legend one day,
their names do sound good together, Romeo and Rosalin.
Next day Rosalin’s nurse wakes her up, who is disappointed at her for not being careful
enough.
She is aware of her secret and wants her to be more cautious.
Rosalin is frustrated that she cannot be with the one she loves, but the nurse calmly reminds
her that not everyone gets what they want in life.
She herself studied medicine for years but is now working as a nanny for Rosalin.
The nurse picks out a fancy dress and wants her to dress up.
Her father has brought yet another marriage proposal, all of which Rosalin disapproves
of.
She groans and falls back into her bed.
Even though she has no interest in charming the suitor, she still dresses up.
Rosalin and her father argue on their way and he reminds her that if she doesn’t marry
now, she’ll remain here forever, and he doesn’t want to take care of her for that
long.
Rosalin already has someone that she loves and makes up every excuse she can think of,
but her father is persistent.
The suitor is an old man whose age isn’t the only problem, but his misogyny is too.
She is bored and wishes to be anywhere but here.
He casually insults his wife, which infuriates Rosalin.
She makes up a person named Josaline, and acts as if she is in the room with them.
Rosalin talks in the air, pretending to scold Josaline angrily for misbehaving.
Her plan is successful as the man storms off.
Later she is strolling with her best friend Paris around the city.
She tells him how she wants her life to differ from the norms of her time.
Paris wonders if this secret lover gives her the drama and adventure that she seeks.
He continues to distinguish between passion and danger when Romeo unexpectedly walks by
them and secretly slips her a note.
She doesn’t hear a word Paris says and is totally immersed in her thoughts as she holds
the note close to her heart.
She leaves Paris behind and runs in the direction Romeo has gone to.
Paris doesn’t mind and follows her.
They are in a vendor's shop and she stands next to Romeo.
They hold hand in secret so that no one would know, but unfortunately for them, a Montague
has already seen him.
His name is Tybalt, and he calls Romeo out.
Tybalt, along with his friends, is looking for a fight.
They try to rile Romeo up using silly insults but he remains calm and collected.
Things quickly go south ways when Tybalt threatens Romeo and all of them pull out their swords.
Both of them fight to succeed, yet it is clear that no one is winning.
Rosalin cuts in and lets them know that their bravery is appreciated, but no one cares about
it.
She orders them to put their swords away and they reluctantly obey.
When the fight is over, Paris whispers that he finds this Montague attractive and Rosalin
finally lets him in on the secret too.
Romeo is back on the Rosalin’s balcony, and gives her a necklace that he has carved
with his own hands.
Rosalin apologizes for her cousin’s actions earlier and Romeo suggests that once they
get married, they could liv far, far away on the mountain where no one will keep them
away from each other.
She can look after the house, and he will write poetry in peace.
Rosalin is offended when he implies that her only task will be to nurse their children,
but quickly forgets about it when he professes his love for her.
She is lost for words and cannot utter a single thing.
There are too many feelings to process and she cannot do it right now.
Romeo waits for the response but when he doesn’t get one, he suggests he should probably go.
He feels uncomfortable and wants to leave as soon as possible.
Rosalin tries to reason but cannot as he is in a hurry.
She proposes they should meet during a Masquerade ball.
They will be masked and no will know it's them.
She plans to confess her feelings at the ball, where they will have all the time in the world.
It’s The Capulet Ball, and he knows he can’t be seen there, but still, he hesitantly agrees
and leaves.
Next day Rosalin is getting ready for the ball with her hopes high.
She feels guilty for last night and is determined to make it up to him today.
Nurse clarifies that the three words ‘I love you’ are the easiest words to say to
someone when you truly love them.
Rosalin is sure that she loves him but blames her nerves for the silence she blessed him
with last night instead of the response he wanted.
Nurse ignores her explanation and focuses on getting her ready for the Ball.
Just as she was getting ready, her father enters with news that Penzas, a respectable
family have arrived who have a son.
He is happy as he had previously thought that there was no one left on the earth that his
daughter had not rejected.
He reveals all the good qualities this young man has.
Rosalin is frustrated and asks his father to marry him if he finds the man likeable.
Sadly, for Rosalin, her father announces the bachelor is already here, and she has to meet
him right now.
Dario, the poor soul deemed to marry Rosalin, sits outside the room she and her father are
arguing in.
He cannot help but overhear their argument as she protests this matchmaking.
She makes it clear that she doesn’t want to be bound to a man she doesn’t love.
Dario is fascinated and amused.
Despite her protests, she is dragged along to meet the man she wants nothing to do with.
She is irritated and doesn’t even try to hide it.
Her father wishes them luck and escapes her wrath as soon as he could.
Dario takes her to spend some time together.
The atmosphere in the carriage is tense and strict.
Rosalin looks ahead with menace in her eyes, as if daring him to speak.
He does, however, try to start a small conversation, but Rosalin quickly cuts him off.
She commends that at least he is better than the other suitors she has been with, but still
has no interest in him.
Dario reveals that he too doesn’t find her attractive.
He is only here on the behest of his family, who have nothing but a cow to offer for her.
Before she can argue, they reach their destination.
They are by the lake, and Dario offers to take her for a trip on his boat.
Rosalin suddenly loses all her confidence that she had a few minutes earlier.
She declines, saying that she doesn’t find it safe.
Dario is quick to notice and points out that she is scared.
At first, she refuses, but then admits that she is scared, but not from what he thinks.
As embarrassing as it sounds, she fears fish.
Dario stares at her in disbelief.
Even after Rosalin helplessly tries to defend her fear, saying it's an actual phobia, Dario
still cannot believe how someone can fear something as harmless as a fish.
To make Dario stop talking, she steps in the boat and agrees to go.
She makes it clear that she has to return early, and he promises they will be.
On the other side, Romeo has reached the ball.
He looks for her awkwardly, asking every girl who even slightly resembles Rosalin, but for
him sadly, he only receives icy stares in return.
On the boat, Dario tries to make a small conversation, but she is not interested in his life story.
Rosalin cannot take it anymore and blurts out that she already has a boyfriend.
He is dumbfounded as he stares at her.
Her father never mentioned this, and he never knew.
This explains why she has been acting this way from the start.
It all makes sense in his mind as it has answered all his questions.
He makes preparations for them to return, but luck isn’t on their side.
Out of the blue, the clouds in the sky turn dark and its start pouring.
Dario gets under shades and suggests Rosalin to do the same.
She, on the other hand, is determined to go back.
She takes the charge of paddling but has no idea how it works.
Dario smiles at her unsuccessful attempts to return, which only infuriates her more.
It is now dark, but Romeo hasn’t given up on her search for Rosalin.
He still looks for her in every girl, hoping that one of them turns out to be Rosalin.
He is looking elsewhere when he stumbles and accidentally bumps into someone.
They apologize quickly, but as soon as their eyes meet, they have already fallen in love.
Romeo introduces himself and the girl reveals she is Juliet.
Rosalin and Dario have successfully returned.
She hastily walks away, complaining that the only thing she enjoyed on this trip was pancetta
and hated everything else.
Dario shouts back that she’s welcomed for only that then and nothing else.
Rosalin returns only to find that the ball has already ended.
The people left are also leaving as the servants sweep the place.
She stands there with regret and blames herself, Dario and the rain for not making back on
time.
She anxiously writes Romeo a letter explaining what had gone wrong and why she couldn’t
make it.
Next day Rosalin goes to the Courier Steve, inquiring if there may have come any letter
for her.
He takes his time thinking but, in the end, disappoints her when he reveals there is nothing
for her except for some letters for her father.
She fears that he may have lost feelings for her.
The nurse consoles her, saying that the reason for his absence maybe that he got the plague,
which doesn’t exactly calm her but scares her even more.
Just at the right time, Paris butts in and informs Rosalin that he has seen Romeo coming
her way.
All the worry disappears from her face as she glows with happiness.
She runs towards her balcony where the love birds have always met and sees Romeo skipping
through the lawn.
He plucks out a flower as he always has done for Rosalin, but this time, instead of running
forward, he turns right and sprints there.
Rosalin stands there with no knowledge of what happened and stares in confusion.
Rosalin immediately runs after him.
He doesn’t notice her as she is cautious and hides well behind bushes.
A guard stands between them and the entrance to where they are going.
Romeo, already a professional at sneaking in, does so without alerting the guard.
Rosalin however not so much of a pro, but she is a quick learner.
She distracts the guard by throwing a rock in the distance and enters behind Romeo.
All the way she keeps comforting herself that everything will be fine.
She finds solace in the thought that it's just a misunderstanding and once they talk,
things will get back to how they were.
But the sight she sees is truly horrifying.
Romeo stands on the balcony of another girl, reading her the lines of poetry that he had
written for Rosalin.
Her entire world comes crashing down as she takes in what is happening in front of her.
Rosalin is going through a heart break.
She stays in her bed all day under the covers of darkness.
The nurse comes in and pulls her out of her self-imposed misery.
Nurse mentions the weather is good, almost perfect for her to ride a horse, but Rosalin
excuses herself saying she has a disease.
Nurse again has to remind her she is a registered nurse, and knows whether one has a disease.
Rosalin cannot grasp the fact that he was still in love with her three days ago and
how quickly he was saying the same things to another.
She wonders only if she had said ‘I love you’ would things still turn out to be the
same.
She comes down to meet her uncle and aunt, and Tybalt.
She reluctantly greets them, wishing she could go back into her room when her aunt announces
their daughter has returned.
All of them move away, revealing Juliet.
She runs and hugs Rosalin, who is still in shock.
Her earring gets stuck in Rosalin’s hair but pulls away after a struggle.
Rosalin cannot believe how much she has grown and became more beautiful with time.
At the dinner table, Juliet’s father try to spin hate against Montague but Rosalin
is quick to suggest that he should probably move away to a faraway land.
This way Juliet will get far, far away from Romeo and she can have him all by herself.
Juliet’s father objects to her talking as he finds women talking at the table hilarious.
Rosalin mentions he is indeed sitting in her house and has no right to order her around.
Before things can get worse, her father commands her to leave and take her cousin with her.
In the garden Juliet wishes she could be like Rosalin when she grows up.
Rosalin suggests she shouldn’t be so eager to be older and focus on her studies.
Juliet finds Rosalin a good friend and blurts out the one thing Rosalin was dreading to
hear.
She tells him about Romeo.
As she is mentioning the details, Rosalin feels sick to her stomach.
She cannot let go of her love and lose this war.
So, she lies.
She misguides her that Romeo is actually an infamous playboy.
She tells her the same lines that Romeo had said to both of them, leaving Juliet in shock.
Juliet is going through what Rosalin have gone through.
To distract her, she takes her to a bar filled with men.
There she shows her she doesn’t have to settle down with one man.
There are many who are better than him.
At first Juliet is hesitant, but later she gets comfortable and has a great time.
When Juliet is busy making new friends, Rosalin unexpectedly meets Dario.
She boasts about how Romeo is so much better than him and even speaks several languages.
Dario stuns her when he speaks French, but doesn’t translate and leaves her wondering.
Rosalin keeps writing Romeo letters while she keeps Juliet distracted.
Even after writing him daily, she hears nothing from him.
Moreover, through the time she spends with Juliet, she comes to learn that Juliet isn’t
a bad person actually.
She grows to love her.
Rosalin decides to come clean but just as she is about to, she notices a stack of letters
on her table.
It turns out that Romeo has actually been writing letters to Juliet.
They hear Romeo’s voice calling Juliet out.
Standing on the balcony, Rosalin tells her what to say word for word.
Meanwhile, Rosalin reads all her letters and stuffs them in her clothes.
Juliet tells him to go away even when she doesn’t want him to and he does.
Rosalin hugs Juliet and her hair accidentally gets stuck in the necklace.
Juliet sees the necklace that Romeo had given to Rosalin and finally knows the truth about
them.
She can’t help but feel betrayed and hates her for what Rosalin has done.
They go from being best friends to enemy in seconds.
Rosalin comes up with the idea, and convinces Paris to marry her.
Paris, who is clearly not into women, agrees to do as that would keep his family from pressuring
him into marriage too.
Juliet is underage and that will give him three years of freedom.
When the news of marriage reaches Juliet, she locks herself in her room.
Her father blames Rosalin for her behaviour, and asks her to talk to her.
Juliet’s room is empty, but Rosalin finds a letter.
Juliet and Romeo are going to get married tonight in a secret marriage ceremony.
She has to stop it.
Dario is also there and offers to accompany her into the forest, as she is too scared
to go alone.
Dario does not know where they are going and he doesn’t ask.
She tells him she is going to stop her boyfriend from getting married.
She is sure that they don’t really love each other, but it’s only an infatuation.
Dario thinks that love doesn’t follow any logic or reasoning.
It just happens sometimes.
He thinks it's too late now and there’s no point, but she is persistent.
Rosalin casually mentions that they are in Montague's lands, and Dario stops in his tracks.
He tries to convince her to go back, but she is sure that there aren’t any guards at
this time and right on cue, guards shout as they spot them sneaking in.
The run and hide.
Sadly, the place where they take refuge in, is filled with guards.
Dario manages to fight them off all alone.
Rosalin can't help but be impressed by his bravery.
They steal the horses and flee.
Both of them ride the horses through the night until the sun comes up.
When Dario asks her what love is, she cannot answer, but he explains the meaning of love
to her perfectly.
He notices a cut on her hand and tears off his shirt to cover it.
Rosalin looks into his eyes and feels something unexplainable.
This tender moment between them is short-livd when Dario mentions he is going back.
She is surprised at herself when she feels pain upon hearing this.
He tells her he hasn’t found a reason to stay.
They say goodbye, and he gives her a bittersweet smile before leaving.
Everything feels gloomy as she walks away.
Rosalin asks her nurse how can she know when the love is real, and she advises her that
when it's real, she wouldn’t have to question it.
Rosalin understands now and writes Juliet a letter apologizing for her behavior.
Steve, instead of giving the letters to Juliet, gives them to her brother Tybalt.
In the city centre, Tybalt challenges Romeo to fight.
Unfortunately, Tybalt passes away, and Romeo is detained.
Rosalin is also there, as well as both of their families.
Romeo and Juliet end up professing their love for each other in front of everyone.
Romeo frees himself and runs away, promising that he will come for her.
Her father announces she has to marry Paris in one day, a decision both Paris and Juliet
reject.
Rosalin promises to help her and runs to find Dario.
He is on his boat getting ready for departure.
He isn’t ready to go back or let them borrow his boat, but Rosalin finds a way to his heart.
She truly understands him now and knows that even when he doesn’t show it, he cares about
people.
Dario cannot say no to her and agrees.
Dario and Rosalin go to Juliet and offer their help in smuggling them out, but she already
has a plan of their own.
She will drink a body paralysis potion and pretend that she had passed away.
Before they can talk her out of it, Dario finds an empty bottle revealing that she already
drank it.
Juliet is asleep and they don’t know what to do.
Right at that moment, Juliet’s father comes in.
He finds Rosalin standing beside her and thinks that she is the culprit.
Dario runs away and leaves Rosalin behind.
They throw her in a dungeon where her father comes to meet.
He doesn’t understand what is going on, but has complete trust in her daughter.
Cleverly, he distracts the guards, helping Rosalin to escape.
Rosalin is scared that the news might’ve reached Romeo and he might do something to
himself.
She even overcomes her fear of fish to save them and crosses a stream.
Upon inquiring she find out that the letter Juliet wrote for Romeo explaining everything
never reached him.
She is panicking and out of breath.
Rosalin runs where Juliet lies only to find Romeo by her side, lying on top of her.
Dario comes out of the corner and tries to stop her, but she pushes him away, still angry
at him for betraying her.
She is about to scream when Romeo looks up.
He is alive, and it's all because of Dario, who only ran to inform him on time.
People are about to come in and Rosalin advises Romeo to lie down back on her and pretend
that he too has passed away.
When their families come in, Rosalin cries dramatically while Dario looks at her with
confusion, yet doesn’t question it.
The families grieve their loss but are still blaming each other for the tragedy.
Rosalin has had enough and tells them they are themselves to be blamed.
Romeo and Juliet found love among the hatred that surrounded them, yet their families weren't
ready to give up the enmity that has inflicted them for years.
Her father looks at her with pride in his eyes.
This speech forces the families to reconcile their differences and after years of hatred,
they finally come to an agreement.
Just as everything is going perfectly, Juliet wakes up.
Rosalin mouths her to go back to sleep, but her mother has already seen her.
She again lies back and pretends to be passed away.
The nurse comes for the rescue and after checking their pulses, announces that they are dead,
even though she knows they aren’t.
Everything goes well, and Rosalin and Dario come to see them off.
Juliet thanks Rosalin for everything she has done for her.
They leave on Dario’s boat, which is very dear to him, but he is ready to give it up
for Rosalin.
They share an intimate moment, after which Rosalin is sure she is in love.
Walking back, she asks why he stayed and his answer is simple.
He found a reason to stay.
Their story may not be known to many, but still isn’t less than a fairy tale.