In the teen romance film Chemical Hearts, viewers are plunged into the life of high schooler Henry Page (Austin Abrams), whose passion in the world is writing because it is his way to express his viewpoints to the world.
The teen sets great goals for himself to fulfill his dreams. Such as vying for the editor-in-chief role at West River High School’s newspaper. With hard work, dreams can come true and Henry is selected to work on editorial duties for the paper with Grace Town (Lili Reinhart), a new student to West River High who walks around with a cane after she was injured in a car accident.
Henry himself doesn’t have that experience of being in love or feeling that special kind of way about someone. Nevertheless, this is where the love story begins for Henry and Grace, co-editors of the school paper.
Chemical Hearts is a deep and thoughtful film that depicts the challenges of life, but the value of companionship. Henry and Grace slowly develop a closer bond through riding home from school together and getting to learn more about each other. Henry is generally very hopeful, while Grace is a bit reserved.
Chemical Hearts
Nevertheless, opposites attract, and Henry and Grace can be compared to a saying in the movie where she can’t find the words when she writes and he can’t find the words when he talks. Still, both teens bond through the paper, shared activities, their rides, and more conversations. They even head to a secluded building in the woods one time. And throw tidbits to the fish swimming in the little pond in the “basement” of the building.
Friendship begins to turn into romance, as Henry wants to be more than just friends with Grace. Nevertheless, he learns a shocking secret about her and the car accident. It turns out her boyfriend of the time, Dominic Sawyer, was killed after he lost control of his car. Grace was saved. She has trouble letting go of him and his death and even blames it on herself. She even lives in Dominic’s room.
As Henry and Grace truly learn more about each other, they begin to see the challenges that life can bring. You may never be more alive than when you are a teenager, yet it’s still hard with what you must deal with in regards to peers, school, and the age of social media.
Being young can be challenging. Not only that, but love is hard, complicated, and can have different meanings. When you look at the world from an adult’s perspective, you realize they had to go through the rigors of being young too. Scars may never go away, and it’s not a reminder of what’s broken, but what’s been created. And despite all the challenges that Grace had to endure with her accident, along with Grace and Henry’s relationship having bumpy moments, they found a way stay acquainted through it all in the end. They have now created a solid bond and great memories together as they soon head off for college.
