Due to their medical conditions they cannot come within 6 feet of each other, but that won't stop Stella and Will from falling in love.
Release date March 15, 2019
Violence B+ Sexual Content B- Profanity D Substance Use C+Why is Five Feet Apart rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Five Feet Apart PG-13 for thematic elements, language and suggestive material
Run Time: 116 minutes
Seventeen-year-old Stella (Haley Lu Richardson) is doing everything she possibly can to control her cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease which is destroying her lungs and will eventually kill her. She obsessively follows her drug regimen and has even designed an app to help others manage chronic illnesses. She conscientiously remains six feet apart from friend and fellow hospital patient, Poe (Moises Arias), lest the two inadvertently share their respiratory tract bacteria and worsen their diseases. Then Stella meets Will (Cole Sprouse), the handsome bad boy on the CF ward. Their initial antagonism lasts just long enough to add some spark to the relationship before the two fall for each other. But Will isn’t just another CF patient: he’s been infected by a bacteria known as B. cepacia, which has removed him from the lung transplant waiting list. Getting close to Will could not only make Stella sicker; it could permanently disqualify her from the lung transplant she so desperately needs.
Given this premise, I expected Five Feet Apart to be a depressing movie. That it isn’t is due to the character of Stella, a young woman of such courage, resilience, humor, and grace that she would light up any film. She’s no plaster saint either – Stella struggles with fear, grief, anger, rebellion, and loss, but her unfailing hopefulness not only buoys her up, it also changes Will. That’s not to say the movie isn’t sad. It ticks all the boxes in the “teen weepy” genre and the screening I attended was full of audible sobbing.
Since Five Feet Apart is a movie about an adolescent relationship, parents will not be surprised that sex enters the equation. Because the characters can’t get closer than six feet from each other (or five, as Stella decrees in a rebellious moment), there is no actual sex. But there is plenty of non-explicit talk about sex (straight and gay) and there is a scene where Stella and Will strip down to their underwear and stare yearningly at each other. Their gaze – intense and filled with desire – permeates the film and the movie theater like teenage pheromones. Although there is no sex in the film, this is a movie that will certainly encourage lots of affection between dating couples afterwards.
Aside from the sexual content, parents will want to be aware of the 21 profanities in the movie and a scene where teens drink champagne to celebrate an 18 th birthday. The bigger issue for some viewers will be the medical scenes. Anyone who is easily unnerved by hospitals or medical procedures should give this film a miss. We see kids taking medication, patients coughing (even coughing up mucus), and operating rooms where blood is visible. It is worth noting that not all the medical footage is strictly accurate – people rarely come out of a general anaesthetic as lucid and attractive as they do in this film.
The upside to the medical issue at the core of this film is that it encourages discussion of serious topics, such as Stella and Will’s exploration of the meaning of death. Is death merely a prelude to a new life, as Stella insists? Or is it just a big sleep as Will postulates? And, more than most teen films, Five Feet Apart asks the question of what it really means to love, to put the needs of another ahead of your own. The answer might break your heart, but it could also be a valuable lesson for teen audiences.
Directed by Justin Baldoni. Starring Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Claire Forlani. Running time: 116 minutes. Theatrical release March 15, 2019. Updated June 13, 2019
Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.