Written by Rachael Lippincott, to have a seemingly adjacent formula to “The Fault In Our Stars”, “Five Feet Apart” is nothing close to what we expected it to be.
With catchy quotes that goes”Love only grows stronger because it’s worth it” and ” When life forces you apart, fight for every inch”, “Five Feet Apart” has raised the bar pretty high from the start. This movie focuses on a boy and girl who have cystic fibrosis (CF), and their natural-pull towards each other, despite being polar-opposites. As the movie depicts their journey of forbidden love, as people with CF aren’t supposed to be near each other.
Haley Lu Richardson’s role as protagonist, Stella Grant, showcases her talent as she brought charm to a character that would have been deemed obnoxious had it been in different environmental circumstance.
The spud and spark of Stella Grant has made the film a lot less cliché-structured, and brought a fresh aspect of Hollywood “sick-flick” with an ambitious optimism so hopeful and bright, it would have almost seemed forced had anyone but Richardson, herself, attempted it.
Cole Sprouse’s role as the rebel, Will Newman, with your typical Tumblr pessimist poet-esque outlook on life is nothing more than a compliment to Richardson’s role. He plays it a “to a tee”, as evident in his work in Riverdale, we expect nothing less.
And must we forget, Moises Arias, remains to be the mischievous character that we find familiar in childhood and he brings a small smile to our faces, as he plays the best friend to protagonist, Stella Grant.
It was good to see Baldoni use of the settings, keeping everything in the hospital, including spark-building scenes of sensuality and creativity in dates, that give this movie a nice in-awe joy despite the clear direction the film is going. The soundtrack composed by Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian, did well in pleasing the teen-indie crowd. The haunting layers of sadness and longing is made apparent and will definitely have people searching for the album on Spotify.
Overall, if you’re looking for a tear-teaser and a time to give teen-romance a second chance, this movie is a good place to start.
“Five Feet Apart” is out on cinemas now! Head on over to TGV Cinemas to check it out.
All image credits (incl. header): TGV Pictures
