Turtles All the Way Down Movie Review
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Director: Hannah Marks
Writers: John Green, Elizabeth Berger, Isaac Aptaker
Seventeen-year-old Aza Holmes thinks she would kill to be like other “normal” kids her age, instead of zoning out all the time, taking pills, and losing herself to her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). When a billionaire in their town goes missing, her best friend Daisy convinces Aza to reconnect with Davis, the billionaire’s son, so the two girls can solve the mystery and win a hefty reward. Davis is clearly smitten with Aza, but with her fears about microbes, infections, and whatnot, Aza doesn’t know if things can work out between her and the charming young man.
Based on John Green’s novel of the same name, the 2024 movie “Turtles All the Way Down” is a little all over the place; it first promises to be about two best friends trying to solve the disappearance of a billionaire, then becomes a romance about an anxious teen girl who struggles with her OCD and new feelings for a super cute, super rich boy. The cinematography however is bright, cheery and brings in a very “summer romance” vibe through the runtime.
Aza (Isabela Merced) lives with her widowed mom Gina (Judy Reyes), sees a therapist on a regular basis, and struggles with her romantic attraction for Davis (Felix Mallard), a boy she had first met at summer camp after losing her dad. Despite always being anxious, Aza seems to have a fun relationship with her best friend Daisy (Cree), who always encourages her to try new things – like looking for clues to find Davis’ billionaire dad. All the young actors are quite charming in their parts, even though both Davis and Daisy are slightly one-dimensional. Davis is the handsome, broody love interest, who might be super rich, but is a “deep thinker” who shares sad-profound quotes on his online blog. Daisy is the quirky, extroverted, friendly BFF to Aza’s asocial, anxious, self-sabotaging self.
For the first half of its almost 2 hour runtime, “Turtles All the Way Down” unfolds like a sweet but slow teen drama, with a relaxed rhythm to it, except for the weird graphics displaying microbes and microorganisms that Aza is constantly thinking about. Isabela Merced and Felix Mallard (he plays Marcus in “Ginny and Georgia”) are really cute as Aza and Davis, even though their romance is quite un-realistic – David takes Aza out on a very “50 Shades of Grey” style first date – flying her out on a private jet. This seems to be becoming a major trope in romance novels – the rich guy takes the not-so-rich girl out of town on his own luxurious flying wheels. At least Davis takes Aza to a meaningful place that holds emotional value to her, instead of impressing her with a fancy lunch/dinner date.
“Turtles All the Way Down” gives viewers an interesting protagonist, however, I was a little disappointed with the way Aza’s friendship with Daisy pans out in the movie, since it evolves into the story’s most important ingredient. If the portrayal is faithful to the book, then John Green probably doesn’t understand how female friendships work, and throws in some drama between the friends just to have some sort of conflict in the tale that’s not romantic in nature. There are a thousand things close friends can fight about and make up, but in a surprise twist, Daisy seems to hold a steady stream of negative emotions for her friend over the years, the kinds that would simply make two people drift apart in high-school. In the end, Aza and Daisy do make up and that’s sweet, but it doesn’t really click with what happens between them.
“Turtles All the Way Down” is a evenly tempered story about the challenges of living with a mental health disorder and fighting it out despite daily downfalls. It doesn’t really have any mystery elements, despite the billionaire’s disappearance being a sub-plot, instead it’s an almost standard teen drama, with romance, friendships and mental health issues as its core themes. If that’s something that interests you, watch the film.
Rating: 6 on 10. You can stream “Turtles All the Way Down” on Jio Cinema.
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