Tomorrow Morning

More than just a story of marriage and the disintegration of a relationship, Tomorrow Morning explores two people intrinsically tied by the thread of family. Based on the musical of the same name, the film blasts through several musical numbers to tell the story and exposit most of the background information on the main characters. It’s a cyclical film; the reflective structure uses a lot of parallel scenes in the same locations, traverses between past and present, with verbatim lyrics used to indicate different points of their lives – “tomorrow morning” for a wedding and a divorce, “I remember” for a proposal and the day of separation.

This format allows the narrative to smoothly transition from scene to scene in the past and present. For example, after handing in her divorce papers, Catherine gets on a taxi through the busy city of London. She sings in low, solemn tones, distraught and tired, as if she has given up the battle. The scene transitions to ten years earlier, the character surrounded by nature in a park; her voice is high and excited, and very ready to take on the world. The scenic and vocal differences set precedent for how the rest of the film transitions from one moment in time to another. Objects and locations become transition pieces, and colour filters help further the contrast – with the present in neutral tones, and the past wrapped in an aura of warmth.

While the story itself is touching and the execution through script and lyrics isn’t too bad, there are some production choices that are questionable. First of all, the scores and backing tracks are a little loud, swallowing dialogue even when there’s no singing involved. When the musical numbers hit, the vocals are sometimes a struggle to hear over the instrumentals. The pacing of the film is also heavily butchered by the placement of the musical numbers, with a few seconds or minutes of normal conversation before the music starts back up again. While Tomorrow Morning is a musical, there needs to be some kind of consistency in the songs’ distribution, either committing to a full musical or spacing the numbers out so that certain scenes don’t seem too rushed and cut-up. The transition into the songs from regular conversation is also a bit rough and abrupt, making an otherwise enjoyable experience choppy.

Mae Trumata

Tomorrow Morning is released on 6^th September 2022.

Watch the trailer for Tomorrow Morning here: