In his book Wish You Were Here, author Rene Carlino offers a blueprint for a romantic drama that can easily be misconstrued as disingenuous or saccharine. Her novel features a star-crossed love affair, a devastating terminal illness, and a young woman who finds herself at a crossroads in her life. But instead of crafting these elements into a carbon copy of The Fault in Our Stars, Dying Young, or almost anything Nicholas Sparks works, director Julia Stiles creates something new. The actor-turned-filmmaker, who adapts Carlino, infuses the source material with a palpable sense of emotional authenticity, from the fantastical romance to the nuanced relationship dynamics between the characters.
Twentysomething Charlotte (Isabelle Fuhrmann) is directionless, working as a waitress at an unpopular Mexican dive bar with her roommate Helen (Gaby Kono Abdi). Together, the friends are annoyed by the monotony of their jobs, from fielding ridiculous customer complaints to suffering the indignity of having their service called by a bell on a pop-up flag affixed to the tables. Charlotte’s frustration is inevitable, as her overbearing mother (Jennifer Gray) and financially supportive father (Kelsey Grammer) look for that gentle nudge to encourage her to date and find her calling, during her dutiful daughter’s visits. She’s embarrassingly aware that she’s not living to her full potential, but fears change.
Adam (Mena Massoud) enters. One night as Charlotte and Helen drown their sorrows on their stoop, the dashing painter finds himself lost in their neighborhood, offering a very drunk Helen his fine Chinese food and a still-sober Charlotte a spontaneous date. The two share an instant connection, flirting, wandering around his bohemian studio loft, and joking about their future endeavors. But in the sober morning light, Adam’s demeanor changes, and he kicks her to the curb. Months later, Charlotte is still forced to think about him, despite trying to move on with good-natured football mascot wannabe Seth (Jimmy Fails). She finally discovers the truth about Adam’s condition: he is recovering from a brain tumor operation and his days are numbered.
It’s at this point – perhaps a long way beyond the slightly meandering second act – where the emotions of the film begin to coalesce. Charlotte’s journey toward enlightenment depends not on whether or not she finds a man or finds a successful career, but on discovering a well of untapped resilience hidden within her that provides the key to unlocking the meaning of her life. It’s ironic that she embodies the TikTok trending phrase “the girl who’s going to be okay,” but her developmental trajectory may impact young adult audiences on a deeper personal level. The pair meet on equal terms as lost souls (Adam is more literal than Charlotte since he started wandering around her neighborhood). She saves him with her love, as much as he saves her with his whole soul, giving her a greater purpose to live.
Stiles and Carlino steer the action away from melodrama and broad comedy, grounding the film with balanced, honest sincerity. After a shaky start, there’s a noticeable amount of restraint to keep the characters honest and the tone set tightly. Charlotte’s mother and Helen are reduced from the possibility of being read as insufferable, and instead appear delightfully charming and well-meaning. Chucky (Jordan Javaris), Charlotte’s antagonistic younger brother, is no ’80s-style braggart, but he retains a certain reverence for that archetype.
Although Styles has stepped behind the camera before, directing a short film and a miniseries, her feature directorial debut holds a lot of promise for future endeavors. It conjures the narrative’s imaginative escapism after first laying the groundwork to make us care about the couple’s fateful case. She, cinematographer Ryan DeFranco, and editor Melody London display visual ingenuity in romantic montages. From the vibrant lighting cues to the lens choices that narrow our focus on the pair to the collage of those deeply charged images, they make the romance soar and the inevitable sting of sadness hits like a gut punch. Additionally, the way the filmmakers represent death, such as removing the mural the lovebirds painted on their first date, speaks an entirely cinematic language.
Foreman, who starred alongside Stiles in the highly entertaining Orphan: First Kill, instills grace and vulnerability in her heroine. She paints Charlotte’s doubts with gentle brushstrokes, coloring the dynamic inner character. She and Masoud share a sparkling chemistry. Although it’s largely Furhman’s show, Massoud is given ample opportunity to show his range, drawing on his undeniable magnetic charm in the lighthearted moments while tugging at our heartstrings during the sadder moments. Kono-Abdi and Gray also shine, infusing their caring supporting roles with intelligence and compassion.
“Wish You Were Here” achieves the magic trifecta of taking a couple’s clichéd speech and, by the end of the film, turning it into a deeply romantic gesture. The title comes from what Charlotte, missing her best friend, wrote on the remains of Adam’s mural (symbolizing a memory of him pressed to her heart). Although the memory of this film may not be remembered for as long as the memory of a lost love, it is worth more than the postcard sentimentality of its title.