Young love blossoms between neighbours in this adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s YA novel starring Amandla Stenberg (‘The Hunger Games’) and Nick Robinson (‘Jurassic World’). This being aimed at tweens, there needs to be a serious impediment to a sexual relationship: Maddy (Stenberg) has an immunodeficiency disease that keeps her imprisoned in her own home, cared for by her doctor mother and a nurse. So she and Olly (Robinson) must gaze longingly at each other through the large windows of their comfortable suburban homes, pressing notes up against the glass before, somewhat less romantically, exchanging numbers and texting. Maddy starts to wonder: is love worth risking your life for?
The initial romantic set-up is engaging, and the leads are sweet, as well as atypical in Hollywood (Maddy is biracial, Olly’s white). But Stella Meghie’s film suffers from credibility issues that become increasingly pronounced. Maddy is positively blooming for someone who’s been kept indoors all her life, while the cast look like they’ve been dressed by a stylist. The plot takes bizarre turns that are both clearly signalled and emotionally unsatisfying, leading to unintentional hilarity. You’d have to be very young and naive not to see the twist coming, but perhaps that is the point.