Baby It’s You

In Trenton, New Jersey, in 1966, two high school students begin a relationship that tests class, ambition, and the pull of romantic memory: Jill Rosen Rosanna Arquette, an upper-middle-class Jewish girl bound for Sarah Lawrence, meets Albert ‘Sheik’ Capadilupo Vincent Spano, a blue-collar Italian boy who dreams of following in Frank Sinatra’s footsteps.

Jill, a standout in high school acting, rebuffs Sheik’s initial advances, even as his charisma and drive pull at her. He ends up sharing a night with Jody Liane Curtis, a sexually active friend of Jill’s; Jody subsequently makes a half-hearted suicide attempt, a grim echo of the fragile choices young people test in the heat of first love.

Sheik is expelled from school, and after an attempted robbery and a police pursuit, he drives away to Miami, Florida. Jill departs for her first year at Sarah Lawrence in fall 1967, where she finds new friendships, notably with Leslie Tracy Pollan. Leslie introduces Jill to her boyfriend’s pal Steve Matthew Modine, and the two couples often double-date as they navigate different paths and expectations.

During spring break, Jill visits Sheik in Miami and witnesses how little his life has actualized — he’s washing dishes at a Miami Beach nightclub and lip-syncing Sinatra on weekends. The encounter rekindles a physical connection: Jill sleeps with Sheik. In the moments before they undress, they revisit the origin of Sheik’s nickname, which he explains comes from the Sheik brand of condoms.

Some time after Jill returns to college, no longer a virgin, she sleeps with Steve. When Sheik arrives at Sarah Lawrence and discovers Jill is not there, he trashes her room and waits for her return. When she does come back, he proclaims his love, but she makes it clear that she does not love him and does not want the life he envisions. He initially resists, but in a moment of quiet dignity accepts her decision. Jill asks him for one last favor—to take her to a college dance.

The dance becomes a quiet lens for the era’s fast-changing culture. As they move through the crowd, they request their band to perform Strangers in the Night, the Sinatra hit that had framed their high school romance in New Jersey. The song swells around them as they share a slow, searching look, marking the end of one chapter and the uncertain beginning of another.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:29