The Fault in Our Stars
2014 · Directed by Josh Boone
Original language: English
- romance
- drama
The story
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
What it’s like
Warm, sun-washed Midwestern daylight gives way to the cooler, grey-blue canals and brick of Amsterdam, and the film moves between them with an easy, unhurried rhythm: handheld intimacy in the support-group basement and hospital corridors, then open, bright wide shots of parks and city streets. Its palette is soft and pastel-leaning, with pale skin tones, lamp-lit bedrooms and fairy-light glow at night. The score is gentle piano and acoustic strings that swell at the emotional peaks, and the silences around the oxygen tank's hiss carry as much weight as the dialogue. Vibe: tender, wry and bittersweet, with humour that keeps the sadness from sinking. It suits a rainy Sunday, a good cry on a sofa, or a valentine-season watch with someone you love. Intensity: strong emotional sadness and grief around terminal illness, some coarse teen language and brief kissing and bedroom intimacy; no graphic violence and no gore. The arc follows two sick teenagers slowly opening up to each other and learning to live with uncertainty. For people who want a romance that lets them feel deeply without tipping into bleakness.
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