If I Stay
IF I STAY
2014, Romance/Drama, 1h 46m
TOMATOMETER142 Reviews
AUDIENCE SCORE25,000+ Ratings
WHAT TO KNOW
CRITICS CONSENSUS
Although Chloë Grace Moretz gives it her all and the story adds an intriguing supernatural twist to its melodramatic YA framework, If I Stay is ultimately more manipulative than moving. Read critic reviews
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WHERE TO WATCH
IF I STAY PHOTOS
MOVIE INFO
CAST & CREW
Mia Hall
Kat
Adam
Denny
Kim
Gramps
CRITIC REVIEWS FOR IF I STAY
If I Stay is the best when it focuses on its characters and relationships. Everything else is somewhat extraneous.
The title refers to Mia’s fraught decision-should she cling to existence or just give up?-and, well before the end, even loyal viewers will be begging her to hurry up and choose.
Documentarian R.J. Cutler, in his feature debut, joins Moretz in delivering this pap as if it meant something. Cue eye rolling.
It sounds mawkish as hell, but director RJ Cutler reads his target teen audience well, crediting them with more intelligence and resilience than one might expect.
It’s no The Fault in Our Stars, but it’s not a complete dud either. That will have to do.
The yuckiness here comes from a manipulative and sugary screenplay that makes even the terminally lachrymose The Fault in Our Stars seem dry and restrained by comparison.
Grace Moretz is miscast in this drama that sidelines all of its secondary characters to focus on a romance that lacks any chemistry and director Cutler’s lack of visual imagination is disappointing. Maybe the best YA parents since Easy A, though!
It’s a study of life and loss, leaning heavily on the regret of building relationships only to see them disappear in the wink of an eye. Luckily Moretz’s subtle performance prevents the movie from becoming a soap opera of despair.
No matter how hard it tries, it just won’t make you cry.
The film gets by on the quality of its cast and the predictable yet fundamentally warm nature of its material.
Disappointingly little of the rock and classical music shot through the novel is utilised; instead clichéd scoring, familiar dialogue and minimal chemistry between Moretz and Blackley renders Cutler’s film far less engaging than its source material.
Hollywood feeding the cash cow. I know it, but I don’t have to like it….or the maddening mess of a movie that is IF I STAY.
AUDIENCE REVIEWS FOR IF I STAY
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Feb 02, 2016If I was an undiscriminating 12 year old girl, I might give this a higher score. Bad script, written by someone who lacks life experiences (or so it seems). Wasted talent. I also love how Adam (the musician love interest who claims the Ramones were a big influence, yet you can’t hear it in his music) only has to play a song to bring her back, but her little brother struggling doesn’t. Enough plot holes to think someone shotgun blasted it. Maybe they did.Anthony VSUPER REVIEWER
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Sep 30, 2015Melodrama has been defined and filmed from the inception of this medium, to now. It has often been attributed to the interests of women, sometimes even being called a “women’s film.” Some would argue that there’s good melodrama (“Terms of Endearment,” “Random Harvest.”) and bad melodrama (“Lifetime” movies). This film falls into the latter, trying to merge supernatural romance and melodrama. Read more at http://www.bluefairyblog.com/reviews/2015/9/17/if-i-staySpencer SSUPER REVIEWER
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Jun 22, 2015So sad, yet beautiful. I wasn’t a fan of the ending.Erin CSUPER REVIEWER
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Feb 18, 2015I couldn’t even stay to watch the ending of this movie, she took way to long to make a decision!Film CSUPER REVIEWER
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