Chloë Grace Moretz performs as Mia Hall in If I Stay, where an exceptional cellist is involved in a terrible crash that places her in a coma. Her life comes to a standstill, and while physically she is unresponsive in a hospital, Mia’s mind is in an out-of-body experience where she has to make a decision to either bear the heart wrenching pain or simply let go.

The film moves forward through a combination of flashbacks that show Mia’s passion and relationship with her family, along with rock-star boyfriend Adam (Jamie Blackley), and present day hospital sequences. While contemplating her life, love, and aspirations, Mia must make an impossible decision: fight for life or surrender.

Themes & Cinematic Approach

If I Stay is a meditation on the themes of love, loss, and fate through a supernatural lens. The movie exhibits a life’s fragility through romance combined with supernatural drama. The film‘s bold revelation Mia elicits in the viewers through her non-linear tellings of her life story undoubtedly resonates with the cello and indie rock score of the film. It reveals the story of discord within Mia herself.

Unlike most teenage-centered films or series, If I Stay is uniquely different where it tackles existential themes which makes the audience reflect on the gravity of Mia’s decision. The film is also profoundly impacted by the soft lighting and intimate shots which puts the audience in a dream world, amplifying the metaphorical feeling of being stuck in between that Mia has.

Cast and Crew

• Mia Hall – Chloë Grace Moretz
• Adam Wilde – Jamie Blackley
• Kat Hall (Mia’s mother) – Mireille Enos
• Denny Hall (Mia’s father) – Joshua Leonard
• Teddy Hall (Mia’s younger brother) – Jakob Davies
• Kim Schein (Mia’s best friend) – Liana Liberato
• Director – R.J. Cutler (Belushi, The September Issue)
• Screenwriter – Shauna Cross (If I Stay novel by Gayle Forman)

Composer – Heitor Pereira

Chloe Grace Moretz did an exceptional job when embodying Mia while dealing with internal conflicts. Jamie Blackley was able to bring the good sides of Adam and romance between them, instead of the overdone and shallow tropes. It is also a treat to watch the supporting cast, especially Mireille Enos and Joshua Leonard, as Mia’s loving but quirky parents who imbue the film with tenderness and emotion.

Self-Reflection

If I Stay is a film that focuses on choices, big or small, and how they impact an individual’s life. This film is not just another tragic love story. It highlights the aspects of family, identity, and personal aspirations, often shying away from the emotional intensity of Mia’s life-changing decision. Viewers are placed in a position in which they feel the weight of the decision as if they themselves had to undergo it.

Chloë Grace Moretz has made herself known in the film industry with her remarkable performance. Moretz is able to express Mia’s passion for music, love for Adam, as well as her internal struggles, which Moretz portrays beautifully. Moretz, along with Blackley, share a chemistry that feels organic and makes their romance realistic without hindering Mia’s journey.

What is most upsetting about these moments is Mia’s alienation; watching the mourning of her family members from the outside and feeling their sorrow would mean that staying entails acceptance of terrible grief. Rather than providing a simplistic solution to this dilemma, the film raises deeper questions for its audiences demanding to be heard: the most central and important of all being which path would you take?

Cultural Impact

If I Stay piggybacked on the star-studded drama of young adult books which included The Fault In Our Stars and romantically infused grief-stricken dramas. If I Stay falls in tandem with and appeals to adult young and teen audiences.

Narrative Construction through Music – Unlike other romantic dramas, the classical and rock music is effectively utilized to tell the story, stressing Mia’s internal strife between her world and Adam’s world.

A New Approach to Death – Instead of the traditional notion of death being depicted in horror or fantasy If I Stay portrays it as an internal acceptance of an almost tranquil state.

Reactions from Adolescents – The film was a catalyst in conversation regarding death, love, and the need to always follow one’s dreams no matter the obstacles.

Conclusion

If I Stay is an implacably striking and poetic film that combines elements of romance, tragedy, and deeply philosophical issues. Some may consider it overly dramatic, but the emotional honesty of the film is what makes it so powerful. It is not only about young love, but about family, self where choices give meaning to life.