If I Stay is your standard “teen-dream romance” with a twist and several refreshing elements. The twist is where and how the romance is unfolded; our protagonist Mia (Chloë Grace Moretz) has an outer-body experience after suffering a horrific car crash along with her parents and younger brother. Her life turns devastating in the blink of an eye as both parents’ die from their injuries, her brother goes into critical condition, and her body stays in a coma from which there may be no waking up. Mia hears a nurse whisper to her motionless body that it’s her willpower that’ll determine whether she wakes or passes on; causing Mia to have a series of flashbacks to her life before, particularly focused on her family, passion for the cello, and former boyfriend Adam.
While the twist brings a unique feel to the film’s romantic premise, it’s several well-made elements that allow If I Stay to stand above the crowd. To confess, I’m not a big fan of back-and-forth transitions between past and present; shifting just as either side starts getting interesting (distorting my immersion with the film). I was therefore impressed when If I Stay’s use of flashbacks fluently transitioned between Mia’s current situations and her past, never feeling rough or uneven. Then comes the cast, who are all incredibly likable people to watch. The main couple possess some solid chemistry together and while the romance is your average formula, their performances are able to make the scenes pleasantly moving. For better or for worse however, it is the parents and grandfather who steal the show and strongest emotions, particularly the grandfather (Stacy Keach) who only gets around two major scenes yet delivers them so beautifully and heartfelt that you’d swear the film should have been about him.