Over the weekend, the movie “Turtles All the Way Down” was released on Max. This movie is based on the best-selling book “Turtles All the Way Down” by John Green and has been a very anticipated movie, especially for students in Corry. Students in 10th grade read this book for Honors English 10 and discuss some very important themes.
The story follows Aza as she navigates life with OCD. She struggles with impulsive thoughts that she is going to get an infection caused by bacteria and that she isn’t real. It also shows the power of friendship, a journey of acceptance, and facing your fears.
I had the chance to watch this movie a few days ago and was very impressed with the cinematography. Throughout the film, it shows Aza as she gets into her spiral thought patterns. To demonstrate what she is going through, flashes of bacteria would appear during the scenes that depicted how intrusive her thoughts actually were. It was a powerful representation of how invasive our thoughts can be and conveyed that you never know what someone is dealing with mentally.
As well as illustrating the disorder perfectly, the movie had a fantastic soundtrack. Some of my favorite songs were “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast, “The Less I Know the Better” by Tame Impala, and “Oh No” by Biig Piig. These sounds truly made the movie what it was by setting the mood.
The casting was absolutely spot on with it being almost exactly what I had pictured in my mind when I read the book. Isabela Merced played Aza Holmes, Felix Mallard played Davis, and Cree Cicchino played Daisy. These actors had amazing chemistry and portrayed their friendships realistically and kept it accurate to the book.
The only thing that I didn’t like about the movie was how rushed the ending was. Although the plot focuses on Aza accepting herself and her mind, there is a sub-plot about Davis’ dad missing. Instead of addressing this as much as the book did, they wrapped up that plot in a confusing and forced way. It didn’t feel natural, and after barely answering questions that viewers would have, there was a two-month time jump to show how Aza has embraced her differences and has gotten better. I just wish the movie was longer. It has probably been one of my favorite movies that I have watched in a long time.
I rate this movie a 4.5/5.
