(MOVIE REVIEW) FIVE FEET APART

Five Feet Apart is a romantic drama similar to The Fault In Our Stars movie. this movie is about two teenagers, Stella Grant (Haley Richardson) and Will Newman (Cole Sprouse), cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who fall deeply in love. 

Stella is a joyful patient who takes satisfaction in adhering to a rigid treatment routine while she waits for a lung transplant and characterizes herself as "clinically OCD." But when she meets fellow CF patient Will Newman, her rigid way is ruined.

Will disregards taking his medication, in contrast to Stella, even though his life depends on it. Will has given up on life and has a sign that reads, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" on his ward door. 

Although there is a spark between them, they dispute Will's pessimistic outlook on his illness; he is currently undergoing a new treatment trial and has been taken off the lung transplant waiting list due to a positive test for a harmful bacteria.

Stella persuades Will to follow through with his treatment plan in exchange for letting him sketch her, and the two quickly become friends before falling for each other. However, there is a catch, just like in stories of terminal romance. Stella and Will cannot be within six feet of one another because people with CF can cross-infect one another.

The name Five Feet Apart, which is based on the well-known young adult novel by Rachael Lippincott, refers to the couple defying the six feet restriction so they can walk together by holding a five feet pool cue in between them. Of course, they ultimately violate that rule as well.

The plot drags at times, and although Five Feet Apart may have begun as a well-intentioned movie about cystic fibrosis and the difficulties patients face in leading a normal life, the narrative quickly breaks down into a fixation on the teens' blossoming romance. At times their condition even seems irrelevant to the plot. Instead of supporting the couple, some viewers may even doubt their reckless decisions in light of the foreseeable story developments.

The speech is forced and pretentious due to the overuse of philosophical phrases about the purpose of life and death. Sadly, the weak plot cannot be saved despite Richardson and Sprouse's excellent on-screen chemistry.

In general, Five Feet Apart is a mediocre movie that falls short of many others in the same genre, yet it may appeal to diehard lovers of romantic teen dramas.