Review: ‘Wish You Were Here’ Is Julia Stiles’ Version Of ‘The Notebook’
Julia Stiles’ directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, strikes a monumental gut punch that won’t leave a dry eye in the house.
Based on Renée Carlino’s novel of the same name, the romantic drama delivers a tearjerker in the same vein as A Walk to Remember or The Notebook. It’s about the “til death do us part” of every vow; the sad part of love that isn’t glamorous, but the one that means everything in the end. Mild spoilers for Wish You Were Here follow.
Isabelle Fuhrman’s Charlotte goes through the motions in life, uncertain of what she wants out of it. This changes when she meets the young and handsome Adam, played by Mena Massoud, and they spend a wonderful day together. In the morning, Adam lashes out at Charlotte, chasing her away from his life. While she tries to forget him, Charlotte realizes she never felt as alive as she did with Adam. Eventually, Charlotte meets Adam again to find out why he pushed her away: He’s terminally ill.
Isabelle Fuhrman and Mena Massoud deserve all the recognition for playing such challenging roles
The average viewer will recognize Isabelle Fuhrman from the Orphan horror series where she plays Esther, the terrifying killer with the appearance of a little girl. While frightening, the films prove to be goofy fun too; it’s impossible to take them too seriously. However, as Charlotte, Fuhrman receives the opportunity to portray a different type of character. Charlotte can’t decide what she wants to do with her life in Wish You Were Here. She receives encouragement from friends and family to do something – anything – but she’s stuck in a phase of uncertainty. Then Adam appears in her life and turns her life upside down.
When Adam ends up in hospital, Charlotte makes a tough but brave decision: She turns her back on her job and other responsibilities to spend every moment she can with him. Fuhrman plays this role by switching between vulnerability and certainty. Charlotte doesn’t know what the future holds for her, but she knows the present is Adam. She listens to her heart, letting it guide her in one of her life’s most difficult moments.
For Mena Massoud, he’s best remembered for playing Aladdin in Disney’s live-action film. In 2019, the actor told The Daily Beast that he struggled to get roles after Aladdin; despite the movie making over $1 billion, the offers didn’t arrive. Hopefully, Wish You Were Here changes this for the better for him, because he bares his soul in this challenging drama.
At his core, Adam is a good human being who appreciates the beauty around him. He struggles to come to terms with his mortality – and why shouldn’t he? He’s young and just found his special person. They should have a lifetime ahead to make memories together, but it’s all being taken away now. Massoud captures the complex duality of Adam in his performance, showcasing the anger and fear. He’s angry at the unfair card that life dealt him, but he’s also scared to die. At the same time, he’s upset about the impact his illness has on Charlotte; he feels as if he’s robbing her of happiness, especially since he has no one but her. There’s an element of guilt, believing as if she’s carrying this burden for him.
‘Wish You Were Here’ forces the viewer to confront the hardest part of life
There’s a scene in Wish You Were Here where Adam goes into a seizure in the hospital after he had surgery on his brain tumor. I had to turn off the film for a second to regain my composure. I was a mess. It took me back to December 2022 when my fiancée’s father was in the same situation as Adam and we stood there, night after night in a hospital ward. The powerlessness. The fear of the inevitable. The bargaining with a higher power. The visceral and clinical stench of the hospital that never leaves your nostrils…
Wish You Were Here doesn’t hold back in its double whammy of trauma and reality. Everyone knows how this story ends and Julia Stiles navigates the audience through the hardest stage of them all: The one before grief. The period of limbo where everyone knows what the outcome will be, but all you can do is standby and watch. It’s a time when life is on pause and nothing else matters as every moment with this person means more than anyone could ever imagine.
The story of Adam and Charlotte scratches at a raw part of the soul, reminding everyone how the future is never promised and every sunrise is a gift. It’s about how love is supposed to be forever, but no one knows if forever turns into today or tomorrow. Wish You Were Here is a journey through the most difficult part of humanity: Saying goodbye to those we love. It’s not an easy watch – and it’s unlikely to be something that everyone will voluntarily want to see again – but it’s a haunting film that cuts deep and tells us to always choose love, no matter what.
