Movie #1: Chemical Hearts

IMDB Rating: 6.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 77% fresh

As two people who love going to the movies, the pandemic has been an especially difficult time for us - but it also means we get movies like Chemical Hearts directly to streaming services where we can watch from the comfort of our couch.

Characters

Henry: The main character - he's dreamed of being the editor of the school paper and he's finally reached his goal

Parents: Very normal parents who have seemingly had a perfect relationship.

Sister: Aspiring physician with a broken heart courtesy of her attending, loves her brother and also teases him

La: designer of the school paper and Henry's best friend

Grace: Henry's co-editor at the paper, through that friendship certainly blossoms into something more

The Review

Sidra: I went into this movie completely blind, but I was immediately all in. Give me a coming of age movie any day (especially one with a Timothee Chalamet look-a-like in Austin Abrams). While my high school experience was nothing like theirs, the feelings and themes of this movie were still so relatable. This movie made my heart so happy and sad all at the same time. Chemical Hearts may be too sad to rewatch over and over again, but I'll still give it a 8/10.

Ekta: I thought this was going to be a really sappy high school movie and ended up being pleasantly surprised. Henry and Grace are strong convincing characters and actors. I love that the movie is filled with tropes but manages to be unpredictable. Henry's character arch is fascinating and plausible. I completely agree with the take aways (italized below) but wasn't really convinced on the "science" elements used to move the plot. I probably won't watch it again but it easily deserved a 7/10.

Other Random thoughts while watching the movie

• I strongly relate to Henry character- hardly anything interesting ever happens to me

• Grace reminds me of Sarah Dessen's Just Listen's character Owen.

• Why is he looking her up on Facebook - it's 2020 and these kids are 18 - find her finsta!

• I really like movies and books that poetry and put it into the context of mundane life. It's why I love the ode on a grecian urn - beauty is truth and truth is beauty & the ability of the smallest material things to depict us.

• Cora and La definitely capture every high school romance- I love it but they are very flat characters

• I strongly disagree with all of the stalking.

• Why is this guy's picture in black and white? he died in 2018

• scarred kids coming out of limbo are adults

• scars are gifts/reminders of good and bad memories