Chemical Hearts Synopsis: A high school transfer student finds a new passion when she begins to work on the school’s newspaper.
One of the opening lines of Chemical Hearts begins with… “You are never more alive when you are a teenager.” What? Who says this? Do teenagers say this? Do they really believe it? Did I miss out on something years ago when I was awkward and insecure and just wished I could skip several years and get out of high school?
I suppose after hearing this particular line, I was able to brace myself for what was about to come. It is a romantic, coming-of-age drama designed to tug at the heartstrings and give off the illusion that teenagers are deeper than adults could ever fathom. For the most part, that’s what you get with Chemical Hearts.
Lili Reinhart plays Grace Town, a transfer student who is withdrawn and mysterious and walks with a cane. She meets Henry Page (Austin Abrams) when the two begin to work on the school newspaper together as co-editors, although Grace seems to have very little interest in anything to do with journalism. She does love poetry, though, handing Henry a book of Love Sonnets the first day they meet.
She also has a lot of profound thoughts on people and love and how we’re all atoms who eventually burst into dust… or something. I wish I had her kind of insight when I was a senior in high school. Then again, Grace has been through a pretty traumatic ordeal. She attempts to keep Henry at a distance but eventually relents, and the two begin to develop feelings for each other.
Her emotional scarring is evident. Grace doesn’t try to hide it, yet Henry doesn’t fully grasp that she won’t be emotionally available to him in the way he wants her to be. She can’t love him the way he wants her to, yet she’s willing to love him the only way she can. It’s up to Henry to decide whether that’s good enough.
I wasn’t overly thrilled with the movie. I felt like it had the potential to be a pretty good coming-of-age drama, but the adult dialogue felt misplaced coming out of the mouths of people who are supposed to be seventeen years old. Henry’s friends had very little depth and felt like nothing more than stock characters.
A brief subplot involves Henry’s friend Lola (Kara Young) and another girl on the newspaper team, played by Coral Peña. Still, they get very little screen time or development, and I wondered if perhaps their relationship got more focus in the novel. Henry and Lola have a third friend who hangs out with them, but he’s so insignificant and forgettable that I don’t remember his name.
I’m not trying to be purposely harsh. There were aspects of the movie I enjoyed. Lili Reinhart gives a strong performance as a grief-stricken young woman who is also aware of how broken she is. Thanks to Tanne’s direction, Chemical Hearts has a soft, beautiful style. He also expertly navigates the high of euphoric first love to the pain of heartbreak, which, at seventeen, often feels all-encompassing and world-ending. I found the ending bittersweet but realistic, which can sometimes be challenging to find in a romance.
Ultimately, Chemical Hearts had some bright moments. There are some good performances and sharp direction, but unfortunately, I found it a melodramatic, forgettable film.
Watched: 09/12/2020
Notable Song: Take Care by Beach House
Allie
September 14, 2020Ah I’m sorry this wasn’t a hit! I’ve seen the trailer but wasn’t that impressed. I think we were all quite dramatic as teenagers but it’s only when you get older you realise how much!
Sara
September 14, 2020So very true! I remember having some pretty terrible, emo poetry when I was in high school. I think the story might have worked better if the characters were say, in college (since, you know, the actors are older). It was just too melodramatic for my tastes!