17-year-old Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a romantic, but the kind of once-in-a-lifetime love he's been hoping for just hasn't happened yet. When he meets transfer student Grace Town on the first day of senior year, all that might be about to change. When Grace and Henry are chosen to co-edit the school paper, he is immediately drawn to the mysterious newcomer. As he learns the heartbreaking secret that has changed her life, he finds himself falling in... (Full plot summary below)
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17-year-old Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a romantic, but the kind of once-in-a-lifetime love he's been hoping for just hasn't happened yet. When he meets transfer student Grace Town on the first day of senior year, all that might be about to change. When Grace and Henry are chosen to co-edit the school paper, he is immediately drawn to the mysterious newcomer. As he learns the heartbreaking secret that has changed her life, he finds himself falling in love with her--or at least the person he thinks she is.
Leave your thoughts about Chemical Hearts.
| San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonWhat makes Chemical Hearts so good is it’s unafraid of its feelings. It tackles complicated emotional issues such as depression, suicide, sex and love with a straightforward honesty. For once, a film about young people is completely free of snark and irony. |
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAlthough it would be fair to say there are “feel good” moments in the movie, the film as a whole seeks to dig a little deeper. It’s not as effective as the effervescently witty "500 Days of Summer," but there are times when it strives for a similar sensibility. |
| The PlaylistAsher LubertoIt isn’t pretty — it’s by turns confusing, exhilarating, depressing and deflating. But then again, so is high school. |
| The Hollywood ReporterCaryn JamesWriter and director Richard Tanne (Southside With You, about Barack and Michelle Obama's first date) takes what sounds like a terrible idea and transforms it into a sleek, well-played romance that largely makes the cliches believable. |
| IndieWireDavid EhrlichAssuaging teenage growing pains like a shot of novocaine administered by a shaky hand, this tender and subdued look around the limbo between adolescence and adulthood might start with a sullen kid trying to save his crush from her darkest secrets, but it never gets swept up in the idea that he actually can. |
| Arizona RepublicShaena MontanariChemical Hearts is sad, dark and depending on how much heartbreak you can take, almost too depressing at times. But it definitely provides something different in the teenage romance genre — except that something different may make you miss the days of cheesy high school rom-coms by the end. |
| TimeStephanie ZacharekChemical Hearts never pretends that getting through teenagerhood is easy or fun. But if Grace and Henry can survive the perils of first love, there’s got to be hope for the rest of us. Reliving all that anxiety makes adulthood in the modern age look better — at least a little. |
| The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeHeavy-handed symbolism aside, this is a decent little drama which digs into the bewildering limbo state between childhood and the adult world – a time in which everything hurts, heads are full of hormones and time stretches out interminably. |
| EmpireElla KempAn impassioned and imperfect portrait of teenage grief and heartbreak, Chemical Hearts takes its audience seriously. For every teenager who has ever felt alone, this feels like a tailor-made care package. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorIt’s a film that considers young heartbreak so earnestly, it risks taking itself too seriously, too. |
