Two teenagers ( Will played by Cole Sprouse and Stella played by the stunning Haley Lu richardson) meet in a hospital. They have life-threatening illnesses but they fall in love and find themselves. The supporting cast includes: Claire Forlani as Meredith, Parminder Nagra as Dr. Noor Hamid, Moises Arias as Poe, Emily Baldoni as Untitled, Gary Weeks as Tom, Kimberly Hebert as Nurse Barb, Ariana Guerra as Hope Gomez, Sue-lynn Ansari as Nurses, Phillip Mullings jr. as EMT, Jim Gleason as ER Doctor, Cecilia Leal as Camila, Cynthia Evans as Erin and Todd Terry as Surgeon.
Starts off with visuals of sick kids with nose hoses (NPA - Nasopharyngeal airway) at home and in hospitals. It's depressing but they are having fun. Then we cut to three girls that are planning a trip on the phone. They are laughing.
"You think that one of those girls (Stella played by the stunning Haley Lu Richardson) is in her bedroom but she is in hospital. It's an innovative scene transition. It makes you sad that she's actually in hospital. She then puts her nose hose on. She's making a home video for her family and friends. She organises her tablets in little containers. She coughs heavily and puts a device in her mouth. What an impactful movie introduction!"
Stella has a walk around the hospital, she looks inside the rooms. People are talking to their families. She has a look at the babies in incubation. A young man (Will played excellently by Cole Sprouse) is there also looking at the babies. He talks to her, she's feisty. He says to her that he has a bacteria which is dangerous for her and other patients. Nurse Barb (played very well by the charming Kimberly Hebert Gregory) arrives and she says to Stella to stay away from Will. She continues and says that the two of them should be no less than 6 feet apart! They take her advice.
Will looks at Stella's online videos describing her life. She's cute in them. Stella talks to another male patient (Poe played brilliantly by Moises Arias) in hospital. He coughs hard (he's asphyxiating) and Stella calls the nurse.
"Will sits dangerously on a ledge of a hospital building wall and thinks. Stella arrives, then Will stands on the ledge joking around. She begs him to come down. He comes down and tries to get back into the hospital building. But Stella locks him out hehe! There are some depressing scenes like this in the movie but there is always a touch of hope and humour thrown in"
Stella wants Will to follow his medicine regiment. Will says that she has control issues hehe. Will tells her he wants to draw her hehe. He strikes a deal with her and it means that he has to take his medicine. Will meets Poe, they have a laugh.
"Stella builds a phone App to control Will's med usage and gives it to him. She teaches Will how to take his meds. They are in constant video contact by phone. They make it seem fun. The meds are placed in chocolate mouse hehe"
Stella meets her mother. They hold hands. Stella and Will chat about life goals. Stella see's videos of her girlfriends enjoying themselves on their trip. It's kind of sad.
"Will finally paints Stella. There is nice piano music playing in the background. He gives her the drawing. It ends up being a silly cartoon of Stella shouting hehehe. What a beautiful scene"
Stella says something about Abbey, an old friend. Will finds out that Abbey is dead. He confronts Stella. She gets angry at Will. She doesn't want to talk about it. She knows she's also gonna die. Nurse Barb visits her and tells her she needs a blood transfusion. Will gives her another cartoon drawing that's him saying sorry hehe. She is in the medical operation room. Will walks in and sings a song for her. It's a romantic scene. The doctors come in, Will leaves.
Nurse Barb chats to Will and says that two other lovers with illnesses died on her watch and it won't happen again. So she says he has to be more careful. She awakes from the operation. It's successfull. She opens a gift from Will. Its flowers with another cartoon. Will is getting more depressed. He's losing hope. Poe and Stella have an argument. She says that he blew every chance he had of love. Poe makes up with Stella. Will is still ignoring Stella.
Stella puts an envelope under the door. It's a cartoon of her 6 feet apart from him! hehe. Will and Po then looks at Stella's online video feed. Stella's video describes the dangerous bacteria that she has. She knocks on Will's door. He answers. She says "Five Feet apart" and holds a pool queue in between them hehe. They go on their first date, with the pool queue hehe. He says it's his birthday soon. They go to a pool and chat. Stella says that Abbey was cliff diving and landed on a rock, she died.
"Will says 'I wish I could touch you'. Stella knows this can't happen so she uses the pool queue and touches her body with it. Stella says she's never had sex. She starts taking her clothes off. He starts taking his clothes off. Its a cool moment. They then jump in the pool! They still don't touch eachother. What a beautiful and memorable moment"
The nurse visits their rooms and they are not there. She then runs to a couch and the nurse finds her there hehe. The nurse is then more relaxed. Will celebrates his birthday. He gets given a balloon from Stella. He pops the balloon and gets instructions to the next destination. He pops another balloon and it leads to a room. Stella opens the door and it's a surprise birthday! Poe cooks an elaborate meal with lobster and beautiful seafood, meat and other dishes etc. They remember the good times. Nurse Barb arrives and get angry at them. She wants Will to leave and get transfered. Nurse Barb wants solitary confinement for him. It's quite sad.
"Poe collapses. The nurses storm in. It's too late. Poe passes on. Stella gets angry and cries out that she never hugged him. Will wants to hug Stella but Stella knows this can't go on and says 'get out!'. It's quite an emotional moment"Then Stella finds Will at night. She wants to go see the lights. She wears a glove so she can grab his hand. They walk to the top of a mountain and see the city lights. They lie down on the snow. They chat. They go to a lake. Its frozen. They dance.
Will says I love you. They get close but they don't kiss. The ice cracks beneath them. They run. She then chats and has a conversation with him. She then falls off a little bridge backwards and then laughs. She lands on the ice. Will says an SMS just came in and that she has new lungs coming in! (for a transplant). But the ice breaks beneath her. She falls into the water! Will saves her! The ambulance arrives. They take them both to the hospital. Stella says she doesn't want the new lungs if Will is not alive. Her operation is a success. The doctor also says Stella didn't contract Will's disease even though he kissed her. It was a close call.
Will organises a surprise for Stella. He sends her a video message. She looks outside and this area is full of lights. Will says "I love you" but he has to leave. I guess because she has new lungs and it's too dangerous to be around him.
"Will sends her a cartoon book. Stella reflects on her life and says 'She didn't know the importance of touch... touch him, touch her'. What an awesome way to end the movie"
The subject matter (young people in hospital with serious illnesses) is quite confronting at first. But then when you see the resilience and determination in these patients, that's what draws you in.
"What an uplifting movie. All the main characters (Stella, Will, Poe and Nurse Barb) were very memorable. Stella was played superbly by the very beautiful Haley Lu Richardson. She gave Stella a depth to her and an unmatched resilience. Will, played by Cole Sprouse, also puts in a fine performance. His love for Stella had a realness to it. Poe played by Moises Arias is a quirky cool character. Nurse Barb (played by Kimberly Hebert Gregory) was determined to keep these kids healthy"Plenty of touching moments. What a memorable and insightful movie. Enjoy the full 1hr 56min.