Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A high school student's lie about a dead classmate's suicide note spirals into a viral sensation that creates a complex web of false hope and unintended consequences.
The story
Seventeen-year-old Evan Hansen, who struggles with social anxiety and depression, is encouraged by his therapist to write letters to himself. After breaking his arm, his mother suggests he have people sign his cast to make friends. At school, Evan writes a letter to himself, which is discovered by his classmate Connor Murphy. After Connor's death by suicide, Evan's family and Connor's parents misinterpret the letter as a suicide note addressed to Evan. To cope with the situation, Evan begins to manufacture a fake friendship with Connor, leading to a viral online presence and a student project dedicated to Connor's memory.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Evan Hansen, a high school student with social anxiety, is caught in a web of lies after his classmate Connor Murphy dies by suicide. Because Connor's parents find a letter Evan wrote to himself, they believe it was a suicide note from Connor. Evan, wanting to be liked, pretends he and Connor were close friends. He enlists a family friend, Jared, to help fake emails. This lie grows as Evan joins 'The Connor Project' with classmate Alana Beck, where his speech about their 'friendship' goes viral. Evan begins to neglect his own life to spend time with the Murphys, eventually starting a romantic relationship with Connor's sister, Zoe. However, the truth begins to unravel when Alana starts to doubt the story and Evan eventually confesses the truth to the Murphys. The family keeps the secret to protect Evan, but Evan eventually uploads a video confessing the truth online. He reconciles with Zoe at a memorial orchard and writes a final letter to himself, vowing to be honest and move forward.
- First release year
- 2021
- Runtime (minutes)
- 137
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stephen Chbosky
- Writers
- Steven Levenson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Ben Platt · Evan Hansen; Kaitlyn Dever · Zoe Murphy; Amandla Stenberg · Alana Beck; Nik Dodani · Jared Kleinman (now Kalwani); Colton Ryan · Connor Murphy; Danny Pino · Larry Mora; Julianne Moore · Heidi Hansen; Amy Adams · Cynthia Murphy
- Genres
- coming-of-age; musical; drama
- Themes
- mental health; social media; grief; forgiveness; loneliness
- Tone and mood
- melodramatic; poignant; distressing
- Premise and plot tags
- coming-of-age; musical drama; teen drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- 2015 stage musical
- Content notes
- suicide
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics, with many criticizing the casting of Ben Platt as a teenager and the transition from stage to screen. However, it received a mixed audience response, with a CinemaScore of A- and a 78% positive score on PostTrak.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 39 · scale: 100 · review count: 48
- Production trivia
- Ben Platt lost weight and grew his hair out to look authentic as a 17-year-old.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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