'Turtles All the Way Down' Review: Isabela Merced Is Spectacular in Heartfelt YA Drama (2024)

Since his first novel released in 2005, author John Green has demonstrated a passion for making teenagers feel seen and valued for all of their complexities. Never underestimating their intelligence, Green has been penning philosophical, wildly eloquent youths for nearly twenty years, and Turtles All the Way Down is but his latest successful YA novel — and latest batch of loveable teens — to be adapted for the silver screen. Helmed beautifully by director Hannah Marks and rewritten for the screen by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, Turtles All the Way Down explores one teen's (Isabela Merced) experience navigating high school with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). As she tries to forge her own path while wrestling with her fears of the world around her, Aza learns that while her illness will always be a part of her, the love that her friends and family have for her is just as enduring.

Given that the film is based on a 300-page novel, the movie houses a complex narrative that might be a bit confusing for viewers not familiar with the book. Similarly, the movie doesn't always nail the mercilessness of Aza's OCD. Nonetheless, Turtles All the Way Down is a love letter to adolescence, even in its hardest moments. Whether it’s singing in the car with your best friend or experiencing the salacious thrill of receiving your first PG-13 text message, Marks and the young cast find the moments of joy among the hardships, and craft a charming, original coming-of-age story that can sit proudly in the pantheon of beloved YA fiction.

What Is 'Turtles All the Way Down' About?

Telling the story of 17-year-old Aza Holmes, Turtles All the Way Down offers a glimpse into her struggles with OCD, and her attempts to regain control over her mind and her future while dealing with new romance and lingering grief. Accompanied by her buoyant best friend, Daisy (Cree), and her revered hand-me-down car, Aza finds herself attempting to solve the case of a missing billionaire while falling for his son, Davis Pickett (Felix Mallard), with whom she reconnects after having been friends as kids.

Part mystery, part romance, part Applebee's commercial (if you know, you know), Turtles All the Way Down is a reminder that we are so much more than our least favorite parts of ourselves and that the right people will love us for exactly who we are.

Director Hannah Marks Finds the Joy in 'Turtles All the Way Down'

While Turtles All the Way Down deals with serious issues like grief and the toll of mental illness, Marks imbues the movie with such color and humor that the highs and lows feel even more powerful. Whether it’s through the many shots of nature or the rich hues of the characters’ outfits, every shot is artfully assembled and gives the film a bright, youthful energy. Beyond just the color palette, Marks also shows a talent for comedy, creating laugh-out-loud moments with effective jump-cuts. Her attention to detail is also admirable, with little touches such as the turtle dangling from Daisy's bracelet showing the depth of her care for the film.

The young cast of Turtles All the Way Down also contributes to the movie's funny tone. Cree's Daisy Ramirez is a bright, witty character who could easily fall into the archetype of the quirky one-dimensional best friend, but Cree brings an infectious energy and, at times, a patient calmness that creates a well-rounded, fitting counterpart for Aza. As Aza’s love interest, Felix Mallard brings the kind of earnest, poetic teenage boy angst that many of our young selves failed to find anywhere other than the pages of, well, a John Green novel, and Maliq Johnson offers another friend to Aza in Mychal, with an optimistic sweetness that Johnson shows off in spades. While Turtles All the Way Down is certainly more about the kids than the adults, Scrubs' Judy Reyes and Never Have I Ever's Poorna Jagannathan are also excellent, providing gentle anchors for Aza as her mother and therapist, respectively.

Isabela Merced Gives a Career-Defining Performance in 'Turtles All the Way Down'

The entire cast of Turtles All the Way Down brings something distinct and wonderful to the movie. However, with her performance as Aza, Merced draws you in with a remarkable range, able to warm your heart one moment and crush it the next. She plays the teenager's stressful moments with incredible depth as Aza resorts to dangerous methods in her attempts to quiet the noise in her head, but also captures the character's youth in times of levity, hitting all the right notes in her nuanced performance.

The chemistry between Merced and Cree as Aza and Daisy is perhaps the film's greatest strength — and certainly its greatest love story. Their effortless comedy and obvious care for one another make the friendship feel totally believable, and it makes their fights all the more devastating.

'Turtles All the Way Down' Is More Effective as a Book Than a Movie

One advantage that a book has over a movie in the case of a story like Turtles All the Way Down, is that the written word allows for the kind of constant internal dialogue that a character like Aza experiences daily. She's constantly thinking about the last time she changed the band-aid on her finger, the sweat pooling on her upper lip, other people’s breath washing over her face — her ruminations are relentless. In the movie, the moments where Aza’s anxiety is spotlighted are powerful. A harsh buzz cuts in like a record scratch, drowning out all other noise while jarring flashes of various bacteria and microbes fill the screen in what Aza refers to as "thought spirals." We’re shown the overwhelming terror that her OCD causes, which will ring particularly true for any viewer who consistently finds themselves lost in thought spirals of their own. Unique cinematography offers more visual support to the panic, creating a landscape that seems to center Aza in a whirlpool of personal torment. In one brief but incredibly effective moment, the world around Aza appears like a blacklight, and we’re given deeper insight as to just how terrifying her world is, with threats looming on every surface ready to infect her.

However, the portrayal of Aza’s anxiety throughout Turtles All the Way Down is something of a double-edged sword. There are long stretches of the film where we’re given none of the visual or auditory clues that Aza’s stuck in a thought spiral at all, so for an audience member, there are moments in the movie where you might forget about her illness altogether. On one hand, this is great, as it serves as a reminder that Aza is so much more than her OCD and that there is a life to be lived beyond the taunting of her mind. However, it’s also significant that Aza is constantly tethered to her illness, and while in the movie she’s often pulled back into her spirals after long stretches of relative peace, Turtles All the Way Down sometimes fails to convey the relentless nature of Aza’s OCD. At the beginning of the film, something as seemingly mundane as sipping from a soda can will trigger a frightening buzz, but these effects are seldom used as the film goes on.

Similarly, the complex plot of the novel doesn't always translate to the screen. While fans of the book will be able to easily piece together the narrative and fill in the blanks, some major events of the film might lack a greater emotional impact for new viewers without the context that the book provides. However, new things are added to Turtles All the Way Down that aren't in the original work, allowing the filmmakers to add their own stamp to Aza's story, and the screenwriters do a solid job of taking John Green's at-times unbelievably verbose characters and making them feel supremely real.

Regardless of its slight fallbacks, Turtles All the Way Down tells a moving story about a teenager's isolating struggle with mental illness, and her resolve to build a life for herself despite it. Isabela Merced's performance as Aza will likely go down in the books as one of the most impressive of her career, and Hannah Marks' vibrant direction makes for a fun and endearing watch that ultimately honors the tragedies and triumphs of its young protagonist.

Turtles All The Way Down

710

Turtles All the Way Down lacks the impact of the novel it's based on, but strong performances and lively direction make it a charming and emotional coming-of-age story.

Pros

• Isabela Merced gives a powerful, moving performance as Aza
• Hannah Marks' direction offers a youthful energy and great comedy
• Creative cinematography helps visualize Aza's OCD

Cons

• The complex plot doesn't always translate to the screen, so the story can feel disjointed
• The film goes long stretches uninterrupted by Aza's thoughts, failing to show the unrelenting nature of her OCD

Turtles All the Way Down is available to stream on Max in the U.S. starting May 2.

WATCH ON MAX