Filmmaker Justin Baldoni’s teen soap opera is about two young cystic fibrosis patients who fall in love during a hospital stay, even though their opportunities for romance are limited by rules forbidding them to come close to one another because of the danger of potentially fatal cross-infection. Stella (Haley Lu Richardson) and Will (Cole Sprouse) are the would-be couple: she is undergoing treatment for an infection, while he is part of a drug trial that might cure his serious lung condition. Initially, they cross swords: Stella is a self-confessed control freak who follows the rules rigorously, while Will is a cartoon-drawing rebel who fatalistically ignores strictures whenever he can. Of course, opposites attract, and the two are inevitably drawn to one another, while a third patient—a jocular gay kid (Moisés Arias)—acts as a catalyst to their blossoming affection. In the end, the question is whether any of the characters are going to wind up—to put it crassly—six feet under, and the answer is no great surprise. Still, the filmmakers stir the pot energetically, fashioning multiple climaxes that take the movie from the realm of the merely implausible to the positively absurd in an effort to roil the audience’s emotions. A weepy hospital melodrama that plays like The Fault in Our Stars lite, this is not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)
Five Feet Apart
Lionsgate, 116 min., PG-13, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $39.99, June 11
Five Feet Apart
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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