Film Review: The Fault in Our Stars

On Wednesday we went to see The Fault in Our Stars at the cinema. In case you didn't know, TFIOS is based on a devastating book by well-renowned Young Adult author John Green. Having read the book when it came out and had our hearts ripped out, thrown around, punched, rained on then put back in again we felt we should probably experience this again with the film. 

We didn't really know what to expect of the film in terms of quality, but we knew we were in for buckets of tears so came armed with tissues. We won't spoil the story for you, but when you know it's a story about terminally ill teenagers you know it's not going to have a Disney ending. We liked the casting choices for Hazel and Augustus, however Ansel Elgort (Augustus) really stole the show for us. His portrayal of Gus was cocky, pretentious and didn't pretend to be a great romantic hero which is exactly what we wanted to see. There was a slight danger of his character being over-romanticised but it didn't come across that way in the film. Shailene Woodley's performance of Hazel we felt was quite understated, she almost came across as a little plain at times in the shadow of Augustus, which is not the case in the novel. However she really shone when it mattered and the high intensity scenes she really gave a convincing performance and had us in tears! 

 In comparison to the novel, we thought the film was accurate adaptation but lacked the depth the book brings to the characters. This is obviously going to be the case when you have a book written from one persons perspective. We laughed and cried throughout and it's a thoroughly cathartic experience both reading the book and watching the film! The film itself was lovely to watch, really aesthetically pleasing, especially in Amsterdam and had a quality soundtrack with a satisfying amount of British artists!

We loved the film, but we loved the book just that little bit more. We'd definitely recommend seeing it but would suggest you don't skip reading the book as you would miss out on some of the beautiful writing and carefully crafted moments that just weren't captured on screen. Whatever you do, make sure you wear waterproof mascara when watching and have tissues at the ready!

4/5