alewatchesfilms’s review published on Letterboxd:
I’m writing this as the book is right in front of me on my bookshelf. I read Turtles All the Way Down when I was around 16-17, and it had a huge impact on me as I related to and felt seen through Aza’s character. Those were difficult times for me as I didn’t understand what was going on in my head. I always knew something was different, but up until that moment, I hadn’t sought mental health help.
Davis quotes in the book a line from Robert Frost that became my favorite thing for years: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” That kept me going for a long time, always realizing that no matter how terrible the thought spirals were, life kept moving forward.
Now, let’s talk about the movie. Obviously, there was a lot of expectation for me going in, as I said this book holds a special value for me, and I think overall it was a very good adaptation. A few plot decisions were changed but were mostly minimal, so I’m not really mad at it.
I think my only complaint is the tone of the film. I know it’s probably very hard to translate words into images, so I want to acknowledge the good job they did, but I still wished the movie would’ve felt a lot more like the last 35 minutes did. The book is really deep and sometimes even triggering. The representation of anxiety and OCD that John Green achieves through words in the book is terrifyingly accurate. I remember I even had to stop reading sometimes because I could relate so much, and Aza’s spirals would get me into my own spirals, but I like how true it is. It is supposed to be uncomfortable because that’s how it feels.
In the book, there’s a deeper exploration of Aza’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies. They’re always present, overwhelming, every subject or situation would drive her into her obsession with bacteria. The movie keeps it at a surface level, so sometimes it could feel more like a young adult romance type of thing rather than the actual disorder, and Aza can come off a little like a burden because you don’t get to see how messed up it actually is. The character in the movie should have been explored more deeply, as the portrayal can come across as very stereotypical, which doesn't fully capture the complexity of OCD.
I wish they would’ve gone deeper and rawer into the matter, but regardless, the script keeps a lot of the original source, which I truly appreciate.
I recommend watching it, but also you should definitely give the book a read.
