Five Feet Apart, review
Five Feet Apart, based on the best-selling heartbreaking book of the same name by Rachael Lippincott, will probs wreck you. Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson play two teenagers Will and Stella who fall in love while being treated in hospital for cystic fibrosis (CF).
Stella Grant is every bit a seventeen-year-old that is attached to her laptop and loves her best friends. However, unlike most teenagers, she spends much of her time checking into the hospital as though it is her second home. Her life is full of boundaries, routines, and self-control. All of those things are put to the test when she meets Will Newman – an impossibly charming fellow CF patient. There’s an instant flirtation between them, although according to restrictions, they must maintain a safe distance. There is a guideline for CF patients that they have to stay at least six feet apart from each other to avoid the danger of cross-infection.
The more their connection intensifies, the more the temptation to throw the rules out the window and embrace that attraction increases, not to mention Will’s potentially dangerous rebellion against his ongoing medical treatment. While Stella is ultra, hyper-cooperative in her treatment, and hoping to be able to get the lung transplant, Will is a rebel and a cynic because his prognosis is not as hopeful. The B-cepacia infection has made Will ineligible for a transplant even if the medication is successful. Stella inspires Will to live life to the fullest, presses him to keep up with his treatment, and he agrees if she will let him draw her. But can she save her beloved when even a single touch is off limits?
They, the two lovers, aren’t supposed to touch, much less kiss because saliva exchange would be deadly when one of them has a serious bacterial infection. Therefore, there’s no sex, even though they undress down to their underwear in one romantic scene.
Despite having been divisive within the CF community, the story promotes treasuring those that are closest to you and has themes of empathy and perseverance.