Chemical Hearts is based on the 2016 novel “Our Chemical Hearts” written by Krystal Sutherland. It explores different situations that young adults might experience in high school. Not solely based on a sappy love story it is quite sad if you ask me. A hopeless romantic falls in love with a mysterious girl whom dresses in drab clothing and walks with a cane. He becomes persistent with wanting to know how she got her limp and or if she has some sort of mental health issue and wanting to help her or as Grace puts it “fix” her.
Chemical Hearts is a unique coming of age film which is definitely not your average teenage love story. It delves into the lives of two high school seniors whose lives become intertwined in a somewhat odd story of love and loss. It tackles issues with PTSD, disability and dealing with grief. The film did prove to be quite slow in the beginning and at various points throughout.
The film centers on an aspiring writer/editor Henry Page (Austin Abrams) whom currently works on the high school newspaper. He has been a hard-working, studious and somewhat of a hopeless romantic. He has hopes of attending a great university and has yet fallen in love until Grace Town (Lili Rainheart) transferred to his school. She will become the latest subject of Henry’s attention when she is suddenly partnered with him in class. Despite the offer, she is reluctant to write again and the audience at this point is wondering well why. This is where the plot focusses more on her and her mystery. Much to Henry’s dismay though he pushes on and gets to know Grace after missing the bus and needing a ride home from school. Little did he know this one ride home would change the direction of his final year of high school.
Quite honestly I am not sure if I would watch this film again. I don’t know if it is the age I am at or if it is just not my kind of film. With that being said I would like to hear the reactions of young adults who will watch this film and see what they might think. I thought the chemical explanations of what goes on in our bodies and the visuals along with that to be quite interesting however, the film is lacking something and I am not quite sure what that might be. Having not read the book I couldn’t tell you if it follows closely or what it might be lacking in the form of more interesting entertainment. All in all, I would at least recommend the film to be viewed once and then afterwards maybe watch a comedy to lift your spirits. Chemical Hearts is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and is about an hour and a half.
2 out of 5 stars
