If I Stay

Rating: 5/10 (23 September 2014)

Life changes in an instant for young Mia Hall after a car accident puts her in a coma. During an out-of-body experience, she must decide whether to wake up and live a life far different than she had imagined or let go.
If I Stay is directed by R.J Cutler and starring Chloë C. Moretz. This film is based on the best- selling novel written by Gayle Forman, novel that I did not read. The trailer depicted the movie as I thought it would be but the movie is actually really not like that at all. The film does have this "out-of-body" experience happening throughout it but ultimately it's a container to tell the story of how she met her boyfriend in the first place and how they love each other and everything. They are cute, it's working as it's a teen drama story. It's a romance and it's what it is. Then they break up because they want different things out of life. What disappointed me the most is that the "out-of-body" experience is very brief, it's not like mainly she's in the hospital and shows her back story. The movie shows her in the hospital way less that I thought. If I Stay tries to surf on the wave of a way better movie i-e The Fault in Our Stars . It's trying to cash in on the success of teen romance movie. The movie itself establishes that heaven is real, it's not questioning it or whether or not you believe in it; *SPOILER ALERT* at the end she refuses an eternity of happiness with her family in order to regain the love of this young eighteen years old musician that she loves. She's the main character, played by Chloë C. Moretz who was good in her role though, and we are supposed to want her to live happily ever after and fulfil her dreams. However at this point of the movie we DON'T, we want her to walk towards the light that's all. It's a big fail.
Overall if you're a young teenage girl: THEY GOT YOU! They achieve to waste the potential of having a ghost in the movie by telling us a boring and easy love story.