Carolina, Kure Beach make for romantic setting in Netflix's scenic 'Along for the Ride'

Summer romance season has kicked into high gear with the release of the movie "Along for the Ride," a coming-of-age Netflix drama that filmed in New Hanover County last year, primarily in Carolina and Kure beaches.

As telegraphed by the movie's trailer, "Along for the Ride," which came out last Friday, is a slick, scenic showcase for Carolina Beach and Kure Beach, more so than any film shot there in recent memory, if not ever.

A lot of people have seen it already, and "Along for the Ride" got up as high as the No. 3 most-watched show on Netflix over the weekend.

In the movie, which is directed by Sofia Alvarez and based on the young adult novel of the same title by Sarah Dessen, the beaches team up to portray the small, coastal community of Colby (or, Colby-lina Beach, if you will).

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Colby is where recent, introverted high school graduate Auden (a practically perfect Emma Pasarow) moves for the summer before college, both to escape her domineering college professor mother (Andie MacDowell) and to "bond" with her self-absorbed author father (Dermot Mulroney), who has a perky, beleaguered new wife (Kate Bosworth), a baby girl named Thisbe and a relentless focus on the new book he's working on. (Lots of literary references ensue. At one point, Auden can be seen reading the biography "Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette.")

Suffice to say Auden's mostly on her own in Colby, although she soon makes friends with her new teenage co-workers in the boutique her stepmom owns and meets a mysterious, bike-riding loner named Eli (Belmont Cameli). Like Auden, he's an insomniac (for reasons I won't give away), and the two build a friendship based on late-night walks, talks and slices of pie.

The cute romance plays out against a backdrop many Wilmington-area locals will find familiar.

The Snow's Cut Bridge makes an appearance in a sweeping drone shot during one sequence that also features colorful Kure Beach houses, along with the longstanding, distinctive Moran Motel.

In the heart of Carolina Beach, the ultra-modern Nest Realty building is transformed into Clementine's boutique, and Pleasure Island Rentals becomes the bike shop where Eli works.

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To a cool indie-rock soundtrack that includes the song “School for Fools” by Wilmington garage rockers The Girls and a sweet score by Baltimore band Beach House, Pasarow wanders the Carolina Beach Boardwalk and walks the streets of Carolina Beach with Cameli, with whom she also shares a scene in Melissa's Coin Laundry on Lake Park Boulevard.

Pelicans are filmed swooping over the ocean waves, and the familiar sounds of squawking seagulls help build the beachy sound design.

The Kure Beach Fishing Pier gets a ton of screen time as the place where Our Couple meets (and later fights), and the rocks of Fort Fisher are refashioned into "The Tip" (ahem) where all the young folks hang out.

Pasarow and MacDowell share a tense meal at Carolina Beach restaurant Havana's; Pasarow and Mulroney have an intense conversation outside the North End Cafe To-Go; and Auden learns to ride a bike (a key plot point) by the tennis courts on Settlers Lane in Kure Beach's Beachwalk community.

Plenty of Wilmington locations are featured as well.

An opening sequence in downtown Wilmington shows Thalian Hall's portico steps and contains the memorable image of teens tossing rolls of toilet paper from the bell tower of the historic New Hanover County Courthouse on Third Street.

Auden eats at a restaurant that appears to be longtime Wilmington diner Jimbo's, and Russell's Quik Stop on Wrightsville Avenue becomes the "Gas Gro" gas station and convenience store where Auden goes to get coffee.

Pasarow and Cameli, who it must be said are pretty adorable together, play mini-golf at Jungle Rapids in Wilmington, climb up inside the Oak Island Lighthouse and, in one memorable sequence, joy ride a shopping cart through longtime College Road department store warehouse Tomlinson's, ending the ride by crashing in the Tomlinson's parking lot.

Wilmington actors also get some screen time, including Alisa Harris as Wanda, the dour attendant at the Gas Gro, and Logan Siu, portraying a guitar player who gets to show off some acrobatic moves in one scene, much like Siu did in a recent production of "Footloose" at Thalian Hall.

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All in all, "Along for the Ride" can't help but capture a salty Carolina Beach vibe, and it gets bonus points for a pretty sweet food fight scene.

As for it being a good movie? Reviews of "Along for the Ride" have been decidedly mixed, with most criticism essentially claiming that the movie dumbs down Dessen's novel. Let's just say Alvarez appears to know her audience pretty well, and while there are a few cheesy moments for sure, there are some compelling and even emotional ones as well.

Whether the movie develops enough of a following to attract even more attention for and visitors to Pleasure Island remains to be seen, although, judging on how busy it was on the Boardwalk during a recent weekday morning, the beach is pretty busy already.

"Anytime you have movie that highlights the area, it's going to bring people in," said LeeAnn Tluchowski, who owns Malama Cafe in Carolina Beach and is on the board of directors for the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce. "They get to see how beautiful the area is."

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Carolina Beach, Kure Beach NC shine in Netflix film Along for the Ride