In the world of young adult fiction, three is not considered a crowd. Right next to that aesthetically pleasing young couple stands the Grim Reaper – peaking around the corner as they engage in their meetcute, sharpening his blade as they have that first kiss. Amongst all the romantic wish fulfillment hangs the grim spectre of death as a test of young love’s devotion. Sure, the school heartthrob loves you now but will he love you with that breathing tube plastered to your face? If I Stay has more than its fair share of tragedy; within the first ten minutes our heroine Mia (Chloe Moretz) is put into a coma by a car accident that wipes out most of her family. From there on, the film plays out like Ghost for the Twilight generation, as Mia hovers between worlds deciding if she can find the strength to live on without her family.
Needless to say, the film continually tugs sharply at the heartstrings but it’s not a complete tissue-fest. The storyline shuffles back and forth between the hospital ward where Mia clings to life and the events that led up to the day of the crash – specifically her relationship with indie-rocker and all round swoonsome hottie Adam (Jamie Blackley). In high school terms, Mia (classical cellist and fan of pastel knitwear) is from another planet to Adam but in fact his band are about as badly behaved as the Brady Bunch and apart from their differing musical tastes, Mia and Adam are sweetly compatible.
This rather undermines the core message of the film, that life and love are both messy and unpredictable. Actually, there is precious little mess in the lives of Mia and her family, who are the kind of implausibly perfect clan who wisecrack over breakfast and never utter a cross word. And yet, I didn’t hate them. Mireille Enos and Joshua Leonard are pleasingly ruffled as a pair of ex-rockers now settled in suburbia, their affection for each other and the laid-back relationship with their children is heartwarming rather than cringe-inducing. Similarly, Blackley’s natural charisma means that he can deliver even the corniest lines without chewing the scenery. Letting the side down somewhat is Moretz, who gives it her best but is still hopelessly wet as Mia. There is the occasional hint of sparkiness in her performance but the "Why me?" astonishment with which she approaches her relationship with Adam is a little tedious.
There is a lot of pleasure in watching a good weepie and though the romance elements of If I Stay work better than the tragedy, I never felt manipulated to tears.