“Turtles All the Way Down” is a novel published by author John Green on Oct. 10, 2017, but in 2024, a film was made about the book.
The book and the movie capture the life of a 16-year-old girl named Aza Holmes, who lives in Indianapolis, Ind. Aza’s life is controlled by obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While constantly battling OCD, she reconnects with her childhood crush, Davis, whose millionaire father has suspiciously disappeared. Depicting a little mystery and romance, the real message is that living with a mental illness is real.
While watching the movie, you feel the growing emotions in Aza, as she lives her daily life. From her getting to know Davis (again), her worrying constantly about getting infections and her needing to be in control, she is bound to burst at any second.
One of the many powerful scenes is Aza’s voiceovers during her spirals. She tells herself that she is not good enough and says she is going to get infected if she does not change band-aids on her fingers. In the scene, her voice becomes louder and faster, capturing the true stress she is going through. As a viewer, you can feel the suffocation from these thoughts.
Not only does the film capture the emotional spirals of mental illnesses, but it shows how living with a mental illness can affect friendships. Her best friend, Daisy, gets frustrated with Aza’s inability to break away from her own head. This leads to a major fight. The fight leads to them to not talk to each other. With Davis, Aza wants to be able to love him, but her thoughts of infection and bacteria get in the way. She thinks that if she comes anywhere close to him, she will contract his bacteria and die. This leads to her completely ghosting him because she does not know what else to do.
In the end, Aza and Davis decide that it is just best for them to stay friends, which is very devastating as a viewer. =,(
Overall, this movie was directed in a very cheugy way, but it has a good message. It tells teenagers to embrace who you are and not to let your mental illness take over.
25twynncoffman@usd489.com
