Far too much time has passed between captivating film adaptations of John Green novels: not since the marvelous one-two punch of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, in 2014 and ’15, respectively.
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| Although Aza (Isabela Merced, left) is nervous about wearing this dress on what might become an actual date, Daisy (Cree) assures her that it's perfect. |
Green’s books sometimes have been labeled “teen tragedy wallows,” but that’s unfair; it’s more accurate to credit him for sensitively bringing attention to people who — in real life — often get marginalized by debilitating conditions. That’s definitely the case here, and scripters Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker have delivered an impressively faithful adaptation of Green’s 2017 novel.
On the surface, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced) seems like any other 16-year-old Indianapolis high school student, but she’s often crippled by anxiety and acute OCD. She obsesses about the contents of her microbiome and is terrified of infection, particularly the spore-forming bacterium C-diff (Clostridium difficile). During panic attacks, she scratches open an unhealed callus on one finger, hoping to drain imagined pathogens.
It’s impossible to avoid wincing each time Aza does this. Although Marks certainly doesn’t linger on the bloody result, there’s something primal, awful and invasive about witnessing this act of minor self-mutilation ... and it certainly establishes this young woman as tragically damaged.
Aza frequently skips the meds that would ease such anxiety, much to the frustration of her caring psychiatrist, Dr. Kira Singh (Poorna Jagannathan, recognized from TV’s Never Have I Ever). But it’s clear that Aza doesn’t “feel like herself” while on the meds: an excuse that’ll be recognized by all who are forced to make such a choice.
“Your now is not your forever,” Dr. Singh stresses.
Aza is burdened further by having lost her father — the one person who “really got her” — at a young age. Her devoted mother Gina (Judy Reyes, late of TV’s Scrubs and Devious Maids) does her best to compensate, but is well aware — to her anguish — that it isn’t quite enough.
Fortunately, Aza is blessed with a longtime loyal friend, Daisy Ramirez (Cree Cicchino, now going solely by her first name). Daisy is everything Aza isn’t: vivacious, enthusiastic, bold, effortlessly cheerful and flamboyant in appearance. She’s sensitive to Aza’s condition, and does her best to “normalize” their time together; they’re also mutual friends with Mychal Turner (Maliq Johnson), an aspiring artist who’s clearly sweet on Daisy.
