Five Feet Apart is what one would consider a tragic love story. Tragic love stories are turned into films quite often, as they have a definitive niche audience. Some examples of a love story that turns tragic would be The Notebook, Remember Me, and The Best of Me. Now, Five Feet Apart deals with main characters that suffer from Cystic Fibrosis (or as referred to by the protagonists in this film, “C.F.”), a genetic disorder that mostly affects the lungs. The most current life expectancy of someone living with C.F. (according to Cystic Fibrosis News Today in May 2017) is only 37.5 years. Some examples of a tragic love story centered around a medical condition would be The Fault in Our Stars (cancer), Me Before You (tetraplegia), and A Walk to Remember (leukemia).
The basic premise around Five Feet Apart is that two patients that have C.F. need to stay at least six feet apart at all times (a guideline set by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation), so they don’t contract each other’s bacteria. This is also why they’re supposed to wear their masks when they’re not in their room, since their wing of the hospital is being used for C.F. patients. Stella is a prime candidate for a lung transplant while Will is not, due to him also having Burkholderia cepacia (commonly referred to as B. cepacia in the film). The more Stella falls for Will, the more the “six foot rule” really digs into her. She makes a life-changing decision that with how much C.F. has stolen from her, she’s going to steal something back. “One foot, just one f****** foot, closer.” She uses a pool cue, which is typically 59 inches in length, to act as their barrier.
Haley Lu Richardson stars as Stella Grant, the responsible C.F. patient with O.C.D. that has been “living for her treatments instead of doing her treatments so that she can live”. Stella has proven her responsibility to the staff at Saint Grace Regional Hospital, where most of this film is set, so much that she’s trusted to have her own personal med cart in her room. Richardson has been an up and coming young actress for a few years now. You might recognize her from The Bronze, The Edge of Seventeen, or (most notably) Split.
Cole Sprouse plays Will Newman, the rebel C.F. patient that is not responsible in taking his meds or doing his treatments, the polar opposite of Stella. Will also expresses his emotions through the drawing of cartoons, which plays a big part of his character development throughout. I would compare this character to Shane West’s Landon Carter in A Walk to Remember, with Carter’s attitude towards school running parallel to Newman’s attitude toward his sickness. Cole Sprouse has made a bigger name for himself throughout the years, having had an acting career that has spanned over two decades already. His most notable roles have been in Big Daddy, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Suite Life on Deck, and Riverdale (all but Riverdale including his twin brother Dylan).
Five Feet Apart has some notable performances from the supporting cast as well. Parminder Nagra (from Bend It Like Beckham) plays Dr. Noor Hamid, Stella’s doctor that’s intent on getting her a new set of lungs via transplant. Claire Forlani (mostly known for Meet Joe Black and Mallrats) plays Will’s mother Meredith with a quiet intensity that makes you believe they are mother and son, with common traits in their DNA. Kimberly Hebert Gregory (her highest profile role being in Kevin (Probably) Saves the World) plays Nurse Barb, an extremely dedicated nurse intent on keeping Stella and Will apart, for their own safety. Moises Arias (from Nacho Libre, Despicable Me 2, Pitch Perfect 3, but known mostly for his role as Rico in the Hannah Montana series) plays Poe, Stella’s best friend that has commitment issues stemming from his C.F.
Five Feet Apart may not be for everyone. Some parts might be difficult to watch as they attempt to showcase the disease. If the sound of coughing up phlegm gets to you, this might not be for you. You’ll even see the visual act of this happening as well. If you’re opposed to foul language, there are two F bombs in this movie. The typical rule of thumb is that one use gets you an automatic PG-13 rating while the second one immediately pushes you to an R. I would assume that a PG-13 was still given based on these uses being more for emphasis in their context and having nothing else to push it to an R.
With that being said, this was definitely an enjoyable movie to see. It will definitely tug at your emotions as you obviously want them to end up together but at the same time, you also don’t want them to because of the chance of worsening their medical condition. “Don’t Give Up On Me” by Andy Grammer, the theme song for Five Feet Apart, is also perfectly fitting for this film.
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