Turtles All The Way Down Movie Review: If You Are A Fan Of Fault In Our Stars Then This Movie Should Be Your Next Watch

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Navigating Adult life is hard and according to me if there is one person who has always put it out in the open, it is John Green. I have read quite a few books of his and the one thing that I have always admired is his approach towards the teenage hood including the heartbreaks, grief, loss or mental health. His coming age of stories has characters that are fun, witty and yet compelling enough to help us grasp the gravity of each situation the characters are drawn into. So when I heard that another book of his is going to be adapted for big screens I was way too excited. Turtles All The Way Down (TATWD) is also a movie adapted from the book that is also named TATWD features the story of Aza Holmes and her journey of discovering what her life is going to be. Let's dive deep into my honest review of this movie.

Directed by Hannah Marks and co-written by the talented writers Elizabeth Berger and Issac Aptaker who have previously known for their work on Love, Simon Turtles All The Way Down is a journey of Aza who struggles to deal with her OCD. TATWD is for all those who have experienced anxiety in their life at some point and have struggled to come to terms with it. This romantic drama might be less passionate in terms of love but has surely given a peak into the life of a teenager who just has no escape in life from the scuffle inside her head.

Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced) is a timid teen frequently finding herself with her thoughts spiraling within her concerning infections and the human microbiome stuck in an endless loop. Dealing with mental health along with the grief of her father and being constantly misunderstood by her well-intentioned mother Gina (Jude Reyes). Her best friend Daisy (Cree Cicchino) is the exact opposite in every way- outgoing, witty and unbothered at times to the point of negligence. She is the perfect friend you would need when you are stuck in your head like Aza does.

When a billionaire goes missing in their locality to avoid charges Daisy convinces Aza to search for the clues and to be able to sneak into the estate in hopes of getting a reward of about $100k even for a piece of pertinent information. Their search leads to them being found by the security who is about to report them to the cops but the acquaintance of Aza with the billionaire's son Davis ( Felix Mallard) who she met during a childhood summer spent in a grief camp. This reunion prompts from a crush to a swift romance that dwindles in the middle when her thoughts are metastasized by the influence of microbes almost giving her a panic attack when they are about to have an intimate moment.

Turtles All The Way Down is a movie on the mental health of youngsters who deal with anxiety and yet are unable to cope with it. Mark's direction and excellent sound design help you to clearly understand the anxiety and the way her thoughts keep on interfering in her head. The film does not pity or show empathy towards people dealing with mental issues instead the feelings are real, raw and so genuine that at one point you feel like it is you on the screen. The close proximity is felt towards Aza as Merced makes sure that her catastrophic thinking is heard and understood well. Not to forget the chemistry between Aza and Daisy who is the perfect calm to Aza's chaos. The relentless effort to make people understand that OCD and intrusive thoughts do not define an individual undeniably works throughout the film.

Davis Aza's relationship starts swiftly but her anxiety does not allow it to bloom into one happy ending. There are a few heartwarming moments like the butterfly moment when Davis holds her hand when they are on the side. Also, the instant when Aza gets a ride to visit Professor Abbott's (J Smith Cameron) lecture in Chicago the joy on her face is priceless accompanied by a hug and kiss which later leads to an outburst of unavoidable thoughts of germs and bacteria completely intruding the moment. The realization that she can never be in a relationship with Davis does break her but the medications and therapy sessions with Dr Singh (Poorna Jagannathan who is famous as Devi's mother) give her some hope that maybe someday she too will be able to love and be loved by someone special.

On the whole Mark's Turtles All The Way Down does miss out on the mystery element but it does present a major chunk of anxiety that people face in their adulthood. Some stories are meant to be treasured like the story of Davis and Aza. And like how Daisy assures Aza that she too will be able to love and be loved. Turtles All The Way Down will make the youth associate themselves and will be a film to be remembered forever.