If I Stay, film review: Sugary screenplay makes this limbo drama dead nauseating
(12A) RJ Cutler, 107 mins Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Miriella Enos, Jamie Blackley
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.RJ Cutler's teen weepie If I Stay makes for very sticky viewing indeed. It features the admirable Chloë Grace Moretz as a car-crash victim whose spirit leaves her body.
From Christmas movies to Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death and Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries, there are many other films in which characters at a point of crisis are able to indulge in a little astral projection – to flit back to their childhoods, to imagine a world in which they no longer exist, or to appeal to a heavenly court to be allowed to stay alive a little longer. At their best, these films can have a tremendous pathos about them. At their worst, they can feel trite in the extreme.
Moretz is perfectly cast as the shy cello prodigy Mia Hall. She has a ghost-like pallor even before the accident. The yuckiness here comes from a manipulative and sugary screenplay that makes even the terminally lachrymose The Fault in Our Stars seem dry and restrained by comparison.
In flashbacks, we follow Mia's love affair with her rock musician boyfriend Adam (Jamie Blackley). ("Being with Adam was like learning to fly. It was exciting and scary all at the same time.") We see her hanging out with her hipster, Iggy Pop-loving parents and doe-eyed little brother. "It was like my heart was beating with the cello," Mia tells us at one stage. Director Cutler can't stem the gushing or make any of the emotions feel real.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments