Adaptation Month - 5 Feet Apart

I am not a medical expert, and I’m not gonna rattle off statistics about Cystic Fibrosis. I do recommend checking out cysticfibrosis.org.uk if you’re in the UK or equivalent charities if you live elsewhere.

OK, I’m cheating a bit on this one, but in my defence, I only just worked that out. 5 Feet Apart the book was released in November 2018, with the film being released in March 2019 in the UK. Rachael Lippincott handled the novelisation of a screenplay written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. Because of this being a novelisation tying into the film, it’s already pretty guaranteed to be a very loyal adaptation but sometimes changes happen that affect the film, but not the novel, will this be the case here? Before we get into it, here are some thoughts on the book and film as individual entities.

The Book

Rachel Lippincott utilises a dual-perspective narrative, with the two leads taking alternate chapters like in Allegiant. It works better here because our leads have more distinct personalities and individual conflicts outside of the one driving the main narrative. It’s well enough written but suffers from the same limitations the plot of the film has

The Film

From a filmmaking perspective, I see why this film was made. Setting it during a hospital stay (and what a lovely hospital, expensive I’d bet) means the film takes place in a relatively small number of locations, and without any major Hollywood actors, it kept the budget down. The characters are likeable in their own ways and I enjoy their performances. The story is little on the dull side, sadly, it could’ve done with some meatier subplots. With regards to the portrayal of CF, I find it hard to believe they’d even allow 6ft if they were high risk like these guys.

On the subject of the film, wtf were they thinking with that Instagram marketing campaign! They asked for stories of long-distance relationships and tried to equate it to living with Cystic Fibrosis, that’s all kinds of offensive and shame on them for doing that.

Because of this being a novelisation of the film, I’m going to alter the usual format and give a plot synopsis of the film, then give a rundown on bits the book had that may have been in the film's original script but were probably cut for time or where the writer of the book used her own creative license.

The Plot

We’re introduced to Stella, her friends are off on their senior trip but Stella, having come down with a cold and lungs at a mere 35% capacity has to stay for treatment. She’s able to self-medicate now and takes great pleasure in organising her medical cart.

She’s told a new baby has arrived and goes to see it, passing a room where another CF patient is letting his two friends use his room for sex, she’s disgusted by it, and even more so when he follows her. His name is Will, and he has a ‘you only live once’ attitude that scares her somewhat, especially the second time on the roof. She’s told he has Burkholderia Cepacia, meaning he can’t get a lung transplant (he’s here on a clinical trial of a new drug) and if Stella ends up infected with it, neither will she.

Knowing that he isn’t following his regimen ends up driving Stella up the wall, thanks to her OCD. She confronts him, and eventually he agrees to follow his regimen if he’s allowed to draw her, which she accepts. She gets him a med-cart and organises his pills for him, narrowly avoiding detection by the nursing staff.

She also begins contacting him and they agree to take their pills together. Will eventually completes his first drawing of her, and we see he’s a cartoonist who enjoys the satire side of drawing, in their conversation, he sees a drawing of Lungs hung in Stella’s room which she attributes to her sister Abby but cuts her off when he pries further about it.

Will eventually works out that Abby is dead and tactlessly confronts Stella about it. Stella breaks down, admitting that everyone in her life was prepared for her to die but Abby’s was unexpected and it broke them, Will claiming that she has survivor’s guilt and her storming off.

Stella confides in and receives comfort from Poe, another long-term CF patient who’s gay and has recently broken up with his latest boyfriend Michael. Stella soon discovers that her G-Tube has become infected and she needs to go under for it to be replaced. Realising it’s her first surgery without Abby thanks to his obsessive following of her Youtube videos (she does those), Will heads into the surgery, disguised as a Doctor, pins up Abby’s picture and sings the song Abby used to sing to her.

He’s caught in the act by Barb, one of the nurses who explains that she once allowed a CF couple free reign but it only resulted in both their deaths. Fearing for her, Will decides to distance himself from Stella, leading to a minor altercation between Stella and Poe. Poe later explains he’s terrified of having to push his problems onto anyone, especially after he turns 18 and no longer receives free medical care. Stella uses a Youtube video to stand her case for seeing him again and the two have their first hospital date, where Stella explains that Abby was a cliff diver and she once landed one, breaking her neck and dying instantly. The only barely avoiding getting caught by Barb.

The next day is Will’s birthday and Stella arranges a surprise party with his friends, her returned friends and Poe doing the cooking using ingredients intended for celebrities, he says at this point he’s going to see Michael tomorrow. They have fun but Barb catches them just as the party draws to a conclusion. The next morning, Poe dies, much to all of their collective horrors.

No longer forced to stay by his mother, Will is about to leave when confronted by Stella, who’s been infected with the ‘you can only live once’ bug and wants to head 2 miles up to see some lights. They pass through a park with a frozen lake and play on it for a while before they hear the ice about to crack. Around this time the hospital receives a new set of lungs for Stella, but she’s ignoring all texts regarding it.

Will receives one and tries to drag her back, he fails and she ends up falling through some cracked ice. Will manages to get her out but has to perform mouth-to-mouth to keep her alive, by miraculous luck she doesn’t end up infected and the operation is successful, however it’s clear that the drug trial isn’t working on Will. He decides to leave for good this time, arranging a light-show she can see from her window as a parting gift and giving her a notebook filled with pictures he’s drawn.

What was only in the book

The book made a couple of minor changes, like Stella asking Barb for milkshake instead of pudding but there are some bits that were likely in original script but cut for one reason or another.

Stella’s parents do have a role in the film, but the divorce after Abby’s death is glossed over somewhat. In the book, they visit her separately (we see one visit from Abby’s mum) she vid-calls her father. It’s only when Stella is about to go under for an op on her infected wound that they begin to talk again and resolve their differences, ultimately getting back together by the end. In movie that’s already full of clichés this one might’ve rocked the boat a little too far, so I do understand why it was cut. I do believe it was filmed because otherwise Stella’s father has absolutely nothing to do in the film

Family becomes a recurring theme here, when Will talks to Poe, we get a reveal that his parents were deported but since he was born in the US, he’s still a citizen who couldn’t go with them because of his CF. He wants to go to visit them but money worries prevent it. Will offers to help but Poe politely declines. Adding further salt into the wound of Poe’s death he tells Stella that he and Michael planned to go see his parents next month.

Will’s mother does have an active role in the book, but a lot of backstory is cut here. First off, this is not Will’s first clinical trial, he’s been to hospital undertaking trials throughout the world which goes to explain his pessimism at the beginning and Will believes his mother only sees the disease when she looks at him. This leads to a row on his birthday where he makes such accusations, only to discover that she had bought him a cartoon from his favourite artist for his birthday.

Which brings me to the biggest advantage the book has over the film. The ability to really see into the mindset of Will and Stella. See how Will’s love for Stella and the determination to keep them both alive leads him to becoming more careful whilst continued tragedy for Stella makes her realise how short life can be and how she needs to live it. I am not a medical expert and I can’t say for sure how healthy either mindset is or whether a happy medium is the best place to be.

The other big change is the ending. Both characters throughout the book and the film talk about travelling. With Stella it’s her jealousy of not being able to travel, with Will it’s wanting to see the world outside of hospital rooms. Both characters meet each other at an airport by complete coincidence, and Stella takes the step to 5 feet.

In the film, there is a deleted scene with a similar idea to it but I’m pretty sure it takes place on the street rather than in an airport, maybe the airport idea was in the script but they weren’t able to film it there so improvised. Either way it was cut out and I’m not sure whether or not this ending works. Because they’re not going to get back together, if they did it would undercut Will’s entire arc for this story.