Early on, “Regretting You” pulls you into its tale of tragedy and betrayal. By the end, though, the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s 2019 novel all but coats you in sap.

So. Much. Sap.

Helmed by “The Fault in Our Stars” director Josh Boone and penned by Susan McMartin (“Mr. Church”), “Regretting You” is the second big-screen translation of a work by popular and prolific romance novelist Hoover, following last year’s “It Ends With Us,” much talked about due to the ongoing legal feud between co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

The disappointing “Regretting You” pedals parallel — and often colliding — stories of a mother, Morgan (Allison Williams), and her 16-year-old daughter, Clara (Mckenna Grace), as they try to make sense of their lives following the loss of two family members.

The tale begins 17 years in the past, as Morgan has discovered she’s pregnant, a fact she hasn’t yet told her boyfriend, Chris (Scott Eastwood), who pressures her to drink as they hang out with her sister, Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald), and her beau, Jonah (Dave Franco). Morgan does, however, confide in Jonah, who’s obviously in love with her.

In the present day, Chris and Morgan are husband and wife and raising good student Clara, while Jonah — after years away — is back with Jenny. The pair have a baby boy and are talking about marriage.

And then it happens: Co-workers Chris and Jenny die in a car accident on what was said to be her first day back to work following maternity leave. Only, it turns out she wasn’t yet scheduled to be back on the job. And why was Chris driving Jenny’s car at the time of the crash?

We know why, and so do Morgan and Jonah.

Morgan insists this information be kept from Clara, who was close not just with her father but also her aunt, who was a confidante. Jonah, a high school teacher who counts Clara among his students, doesn’t seem to agree but goes along with Morgan’s wishes.

Soon, Morgan struggles to connect with her daughter as they continue to live in Chris’ childhood home, where Morgan finds herself surrounded by his things.

Meanwhile, Jonah, who continues to hold strong feelings for Morgan, realizes the full ramifications of Jenny’s infidelity.

On the other hand, things could be worse for Clara, who is growing close to her crush at school, Miller (Mason Thames), who suddenly is breaking up and getting back together with his girlfriend on the regular. Once that relationship is put to bed, the two spend a lot of time together, adding to her mother’s list of concerns.

For much of its two hours, “Regretting You” traffics in mother-daughter shouting matches and cute teenage love.

The movie spends so much time with Clara and Miller, with Grace and Thames developing nice chemistry, that it devotes too little attention to Morgan and Jonah. That’s especially disappointing considering that Franco (“21 Jump Street,” “The Studio”) — known largely for comedic roles — gives the movie’s best performance.

Also, more could have been made of the efforts of Morgan — a stay-at-home-mom with a gift for design — to remake a home that never felt like hers.

Williams (“Get Out,” “M3GAN 2.0”) gives a decent performance, delivering laughs during a rare comic scene where Morgan stares down Miller after he takes the emotional Clara away from her father’s funeral and facilitates her desire to try smoking marijuana.

Thames (“How to Train Your Dragon,” “Black Phone 2”) is enjoyable, too, as Miller, who’s not the bad boy he first seems and who cares for his ailing grandfather (Clancy Brown, “The Shawshank Redemption”).

Grace (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Captain Marvel”), meanwhile, is fine but not nearly as interesting as she is in the recent “Ghostbusters” movies as Phoebe Spengler.

Perhaps the book is different, but the movie version of this story has nowhere interesting to go, and you can tell that by about the halfway point, when checking your watch starts to become a regular occurrence.

If you love schmaltzy, paper-thin romances — and that’s your right — there likely will be no regrets after seeing “Regretting You.” The rest of us, though, will be left wanting something more than all that sap.

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‘REGRETTING YOU’

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for sexual content, teen drug and alcohol use, and brief strong language)

Running time: 1:56

How to watch: Now in theaters

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