Haley Lu Richardson

(In French, On TV, December 2021) Terminally ill teenagers are a surefire draw for younger audiences when it comes to ill-fated tragic romances, and so Five Feet Apart takes us in the daily lives of cystic fibrosis patients, a genetic disorder that forces a strict regiment of medication and habits. The title comes from a guideline for patients not to get closer than six feet from each other, given the dangers of fatal cross-infection. (How familiar, post-2020.)  Our meticulous heroine falls for a bad boy with slack habits, and in an attempt to create intimacy, decides to reclaim a foot from the disease, and remain five feet from her boyfriend. It all leads to predictable tragedy by the third act, with no happy ending in store for our bacteria-crossed lovers. Sick teenager romances being what they are, the result is a mixture of surface effectiveness powered by deliberate manipulation. Haley Lu Richardson does well in a somewhat familiar lead role, but the entire film feels like many others, except with a different terrible disease as a plot device. A few things do work, however: Setting the story in a hospital gives an interesting claustrophobia to the atmosphere, and the details of how patients manage their disease help stave off some of the inherent romanticism of the tale. Still, the best Five Feet Apart can manage is a mixed response, its best assets weighed down by elements that may be inherent in the very story it’s trying to tell.