Turtles All the Way Down (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – A teenager with OCD tries to solve a mystery surrounding a fugitive billionaire.

My Take – Indeed, unlike most “adults” I am a fan of author John Green‘s works. Following the massive critical and commercial success of Fault In Our Stars (2014) adaption, I have read quite a few of his books, and one thing that has always stuck with me is his thoughtful approach to the more challenging parts of being a teenager – be it heartbreak, loss, and grief.

Of course it helps that his coming-of-age stories feature multidimensional characters who are smart, witty and compelling. A major reason why I also enjoyed the Paper Towns (2015) adaption quite as well.

However, his 2017 release, which was partially inspired by Green‘s own life, in comparison, has been my least favorite of them all. Mainly, as his writing went deep into the mind of his protagonist than in any of his other books, probably a necessity as it is after all about thoughts, but my doing so, as a reader I found myself stuck in a loop of thought spirals and panicked streams of consciousness, without providing much semblance to the central mystery and romance.

But for what is maybe not his strongest story, this one is actually a good adaptation.

Directed by Hannah Marks (After Everything, Don’t Make Me Go), though the resulting film is uneven at its best, it sure does make a genuine effort to create a visceral portrait of mental illness and showcase a genuine coming-of-age story about friendship. This one is the exact type of YA flick that once resonated widely: cheesy and filled with a whole lot of emotion.

Yes, a better-rounded plot and set of characters might’ve led to a more satisfying viewing experience, but bolstered by an excellent central performance from Isabela Merced, the film does deserve all the appreciation coming its way.

The story follows Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced), a 16-year-old high schooler with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), who spends her time hanging out with her best friend Daisy (Cree) driving around in her beloved car, Harold and watching philosophy lectures by Professor Abbott (J. Smith-Cameron) from Northwestern University.

But while she looks absolutely normal from the outside, on the inside, Aza is a storm of worries and intrusive thoughts. Her fixation on microbiology doesn’t just stop at her musings on consciousness. She’s terrified of infection, especially C. diff which makes her use copious amounts of hand sanitizer, and even break and drain a callus on her finger multiple times a day.

But as Aza struggles to contend with her own thoughts, adventure comes knocking when local billionaire Russell Pickett goes missing. And with the FBI willing to reward important information with $100,000, a hefty amount that will help her pay tuition at her dream school, Aza is convinced by Daisy to investigate and reconnect with Russell’s son, Davis (Felix Mallard), with whom she bonded at a summer camp for grieving children.

Working on a screenplay from writers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, the film walks a fine line between standard adolescent mystery caper and character study of mental illness, an unwieldy balance that, though occasionally generating sparks, never fully achieves equilibrium. Just like the book, the caper side has a ludicrous, half-hearted undramatic plot that amounts to an unsatisfying conclusion.

Yet, the point of the book and the film is to paint a picture of what it’s like to live with thought spirals and OCD. And on that front the film does decently well. It zeroes in on the main character’s internal struggles. Aza’s thoughts are often consumed by her fear of germs, and when they spiral out of control, she’s practically paralyzed with fear or on the brink of a full-on panic attack.

Her voice-over is near-constant, situating you in each of her thought spirals. Eerie footage of bacteria flashes onscreen like miniature jump scares.

To see them is to be anxious, and to be anxious is to feel like Aza in these moments. Something which even causes her to struggle with her therapist Dr. Kira Singh (Poorna Jagannathan), the esteemed professor and her well-meaning but overburdened mother Gina (Judy Reyes).

Perhaps most affecting are the scenes in which Aza breaks her callus and changes the Band-Aid she uses to cover it. Quick cuts show Aza digging her nail into her hand, small amounts of blood, and the wince of pain on her face. The music, the sounds, the imagery, the script, everything works in union to serve this goal.

And though she fears kissing someone, since that would lead to a sharing of microbes, Aza and Davis end up getting drawn together, partially because Daisy is eager to get the prize money, but also because Davis is eager to reconnect with Aza. It’s a sweet relationship and one that should prove emotionally resonant purely because of the characters’ shared history.

Unfortunately, the film don’t effectively establish Aza and Davis’ previous bond, or even Davis himself. Nevertheless, the real love story is the friendship between her and Daisy. One of the film’s most heartbreaking scenes is a blow-out fight between them, just as one of its sweetest moments is a hopeful scene of Daisy encouraging Aza.

Performances wise, Isabela Merced is amazing as the lead role here and she does a great job at portraying the intense amount of anxiety that her character feels and both the way it looks on the outside and the way it sounds inside her own head. Merced alone absorbs the film’s rougher edges, vaguer lines and dramatic whiffs, especially when assisted by a strikingly natural Cree. The two have sweet chemistry, with Cree‘s enjoyably boisterous energy serving as the perfect foil for Merced‘s more toned-down turn.

While Felix Mallard oozes the required charm and likeability throughout. In smaller roles, Poorna Jagannathan, Judy Reyes, Maliq Johnson and J. Smith-Cameron provide effective support. On the whole, ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ is a winning yet uneven emotional coming-of-age film anchored by a very effective Isabela Merced.