Turtles All the Way Down is a coming-of-age film released in 2022. Directed by Hannah Marks, it is based on John Green’s novel of the same name published in 2017. The movie captures the tension between mental health issues and coming-of-age adolescent love, along with self-identity. It showcases the journey of a deeply anxious teenage girl and manages to achieve a balance between emotional realism and an optimistic outlook.
🎬 Plot Summary
The protagonist Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced) is a high school student, 16 years of age, suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety. She is unable to find peace due to her spiraling anxiety concerning infections and contamination. Aza is perpetually fearful and introspective. To keep her afloat, her best friend, Daisy Ramirez (Chinaza Uche), tries to pull her attention towards the outside world, reminding her of life beyond her mental traumas.
This is the moment when Aza discovers that local billionaire and purported sex offender Russell Pickett has gone missing, which comes as news to many. The picket is worth $100,000 which is an opportunity for Daisy that could help her family with bills. Aza is intrigued and along with Daisy’s support, reaches out to Russell’s estranged son, Davis (Félix Mallard), whom she met briefly years ago. They seem to be two lonely souls drawn together by circumstance.
Aza and Davis’s relationship evolves as they frequently meet for coffee, attend school functions together, and share private moments. Their bond is deepening, shifting the film’s narrative towards romance. However, Aza’s inner conflicts are still very much at the forefront. Overwhelming panic attacks fixated on obsessive thoughts around germs begin to surface. She does not fully share her struggles which deepens Davis’s confusion and anger.
Alongside the evolving relationship is Aza’s development. She prioritizes solving her anxiety over the Pickett investigation. With intermittent therapy sessions and support from Daisy, Aza works on understanding and managing her anxiety. These small acts of bravery, such as reaching out to her loved ones, confronting her fears, and employing thought-stopping techniques, all mark progress.
In the film’s emotionally climactic scene, Aza experiences a panic attack and Davis tries to comfort her. The distance between them becomes painful because Aza feels she must travel inward for healing; not through others, but self-compassion.
The film does not resolve neatly. Aza and Davis part ways while Daisy delivers a heartfelt, codependent hug. Aza stands at a city overlook, breathes through her fear, and looks alone but powerful. This closing scene carries dual meaning: the beginning of her journey alongside OCD and the aftermath of experiencing profound love, friendship, and resilience emerges much stronger.
🎭 Cast and Character Dynamics
Isabela Merced (Aza Holmes)
Merced’s performance furthers Aza’s character with emotional depth and honesty. She manages to blend moments of severe panic with humor and warmth. Her portrayal evokes the inner tumult of OCD without rendering Aza as a mere caricature of the disorder.
Chinaza Uche (Daisy Ramirez)
Daisy is filled with life, exuberance, and displays fierce loyalty to her friends. She serves as Aza’s anchor and coping mechanism, shouldering much of the emotional burden. Uche balances charm and gravitas in this role that requires both comedic frivolity and devastating maturity.
Félix Mallard (Davis Pickett)
Davis, played by Mallard, is gentle and introspective. He tempers Aza’s storms with calm and gentle affection. His love is tender and slow, portraying young love with emotional respect. He offers no saving grace and does not act as a typical boyfriend but rather a friend learning the limits of love.
Supporting cast
Shading Aza are family members and peers as well as people from her therapy sessions. They create background context as well as provide commentary that highlights the stigma related to mental health, socio-economic disparities, as well as anxieties stereotypically associated with millennials.
🎥 Direction, Tone & Visual Style
Marks’ sensitivity and intimacy as a director comes through in the film’s use of soft pastel colors and close-up shots that place the audience in Aza’s head. Her thought processes are depicted through quick focus changes, gentle zooms, and soft blurring, illustrating the way her thoughts flit about. Rain-drenched cityscapes, as well as softly turning notebook pages, evoke both emotional upheaval and a desire for creative expression.
Marks employs minimal punctuation; Aza’s breath is accompanied by ambient sounds and gentle, unassuming acoustic music. Scenes take their course at a natural rhythm, honoring emotional authenticity rather than plot mechanics.
🎯 Themes and Interpretation
- Existing with a Mental Illness
OCD is not a shocking revelation; it defines Aza’s existence. While the film does not center on mental illness as a result of trauma, it honors the reality of day-to-day life with mental illness, including intrusive and obsessive thoughts, ritualistic behaviors, and the associated stigma. The audience sees through Aza’s lens that wellness is not an end goal, but rather a practice.
- The Complexity of Love
Aza and Davis’s romance challenges many expectations of love stories. It lacks a sweeping declaration, a climactic kiss or any hallmark moment. Rather, their love is soft, clumsy and beautifully imperfect. The film suggests that love sometimes means letting go.
- Female Friendship and Dependency
The emotional center of the film is the relationship between Aza and Daisy. Daisy’s affection can be fierce—almost stifling. In trying to save her friend, she also risks losing herself. There is no moralization in the film; both women require profound healing.
- Search for Self and Agency
Aza’s most significant struggle throughout the film is that of self-control—not of relationships or external drama, but of her own thoughts. The climax of the film depicts her decision to embrace therapy, mindfulness, and radical honesty with herself.
📊 Critical and Audience Reception
The film was described as compassionate and emotionally realistic, resulting in broadly positive reviews. Critics noted the courageous and truthful nature of Merced’s performance, praising the film for depicting OCD with dignity. Many lauded the film for not “nickel-and-diming” with exposition or melodrama.
Some viewers, however, felt that the emotional core was eclipsed by the subplot of the investigation in the middle act. Critics also pointed out that Davis is underdeveloped in relation to the central pair, though there was consensus that his subdued presence aligns well with the film’s tone.
People with personal experiences of mental illness praised the film for its genuineness and for not reducing mental health issues to mere plot devices. The film also sparked conversations on social media among teenagers and young adults dealing with similar issues.
🔚 Conclusion
Turtles All The Way Down is distinguished from other young adult films by its quiet resilience and emotional honesty. It does not provide simplistic solutions; instead, it celebrates small, ordinary triumphs and recognizes that healing is a process that is always in motion.
Marks’ gentle direction, combined with standout performances from Isabela Merced and Daisy and Davis, provides a hopeful lens: life may at times be trauma, turtles, or spiraling anxiety, but breathing through the chaos can sometimes result in clarity.
For those looking for representation that is layered and nuanced, as well as an authentic emotional portrait that tells an imperfect story, Turtles All The Way Down embraces viewers in a way that is rare for cinema. Not every question is answered, and that is precisely the point.
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