It’s been a while since we’ve seen a movie that has left the audience without a single dry eye, and then along comes 'Five Feet Apart'.
Directed by Justin Baldoni (we know him as Rafael Solano from 'Jane The Virgin'), and starring Cole Sprouse (our teenage heart-throb from Disney Channel’s 'The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody') and Haley Lu Richardson (more recently known for her part as a brave prisoner from the psychological horror thriller film, 'Split'), 'Five Feet Apart' vows to stir your emotions, take you on a rollercoaster of events, and leave you feeling heartbroken in more ways than one.
It’s your typical ‘girl meets boy’ love story. Girl, Stella Grant (Richardson) is an obsessive compulsive social media star with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), who uses her skills in technology to master the art of taking medications and attempting to deal with her illness. Cue boy, Will Newman (Sprouse), who is quite the opposite – a rebel who actively avoids taking his medication and attending appointments, and spends a lot of time on the roof in the cold. Also with Cystic Fibrosis. The twist? People with CF aren’t allowed to come within six-feet of others with CF, due to the risk of catching a fatal microbe from the other. This, of course, complicates the typical ‘girl meets boy’ love story, because this girl and boy can’t touch each other.
Stella is at a hospital for the umpteenth time, along with her best friend Poe (Moisés Arias) who has been diagnosed with ‘CF’ for just as long as her, when Will is admitted. However, under the strict eye of their nurse, Barb (Kimberly Hébert Gregory), they are sworn to the CF six-foot rule. The pair reluctantly abide, but manage to add their own twist to the rule.
Justin Baldoni does a beautiful job at bringing the heart-wrenching realities of CF to light through a spectacularly-produced movie, complete with comedic teenage one-liners, inspirational endeavours, and drama that everyone can relate to. He builds characters in such a way that you feel as though you’re in the hospital, experiencing the ups and downs alongside Stella, Will and Poe, which is accentuated as you feel love and loss with them as well. However, as the film draws to an end, Baldoni ensures that it doesn’t follow the same happily ever after that you expect from traditional ‘boy meets girl’ love stories.
With enough emotional highs and lows, and traditional story lines and plot twists, 'Five Feet Apart' will leave audiences teary eyed, and touched with a new perspective of brave kids suffering from an [currently] incurable condition.
