Isabela Merced stars in the latest John Green adapation.
Beloved YA author John Green returns with a movie adaptation of his best-selling novel Turtles All the Way Down. Based on Green’s beautifully heart-wrenching story that navigates complicated teenage experiences, the film follows Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced), a 17-year-old high schooler who’s struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety. For as long as she’s lived, Aza’s invasive thoughts have become the backbone of her existence, sending her into downward spirals akin to “turtles all the way down”: and endless continuation of complete regression.
But with the help of her best friend Daisy (Cree Cicchino). With a penchant for adventure, Daisy’s outgoing personality helps Aza break out of her shell bit by bit. As Aza’s long-lost crush Davis (Felix Mallard) suddenly reappears in town, she starts to question whether there’s room for hope amid the chaos of her life. Although the original novel itself is fiction, Green has shared that the story is based on the author’s personal accounts of grappling with mental illness. A coming-of-age tale exploring love, happiness, friendship, and hope, Turtles All the Way Down promises to deliver both laughter and tears to both loyal fans of Green’s works and new audiences who have yet to read his books.
Without further ado, check out everything we know so far about Turtles All the Way Down.
Turtles All The Way Down
A teenager tries to solve a mystery surrounding a fugitive billionaire.
- Director
- Hannah Marks
- Cast
- Isabela Merced , J. Smith-Cameron , Judy Reyes , Hannah Marks
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Writers
- Elizabeth Berger , Isaac Aptaker , John Green
When Is the Release Date for ‘Turtles All the Way Down’?
Turtles All the Way Down is set to premiere on May 2, 2024, exclusively on Max.
If you haven’t subscribed to Max yet, the streaming platform gives you the choice between monthly or yearly payment options. The With Ads plan costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. For those who prefer an ad-free viewing experience, there’s the Ad-Free plan, priced at $15.99 per month or $149.99 per year. For an even more enhanced ad-free experience, you can opt for the Ultimate Ad-Free plan, which costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year. These prices exclude applicable taxes.
Watch the Trailer for ‘Turtles All the Way Down’
It’s tough being Aza. Unlike most of her peers, high school is a different experience for the 17-year-old. As the trailer shows, walking through the corridors alone already feels like an overwhelming task. Although Aza looks calm and collected on the outside, her mind’s constantly going at the speed of light, questioning the massive amount of parasitic organisms contained in her body, ready to cause an infection anytime soon. Her struggles with OCD and anxiety hinder Aza from living a “normal” life, but according to her best friend Daisy and her counselor, nothing can stop her from fulfilling her dreams: one of them being having romantic relationships.
As Aza’s old childhood crush, Davis tries to reconnect with her, Aza finds herself reluctant to be romantically attached, fearing that Davis might be repulsed by her condition. However, with Daisy’s encouragement, she breaks out of her shell and takes a chance on him. But as is often the case with mental health journeys, progress is never linear. Despite the support of her loved ones, Aza continues to wrestle with her inner demons, culminating in a car crash that almost takes her life. Turtles All the Way Down isn’t a sad story. It’s filled with hope despite it being far out of reach. Although life can get dark along the way, at the end of the day, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
Who Stars in ‘Turtles All the Way Down’?
Turtles All the Way Downstars Isabela Merced as Aza Holmes, a high school teenager who suffers from anxiety and OCD. In the novel, Aza is always in fear of the parasites taking over her body and causing bacterial infections. Although she comes across as socially awkward due to her condition, her best friend helps Aza feel safe despite her uncontrollable thoughts. Most recently, Merced played Anya Corazón / Araña in Marvel’s Madame Web. She’s also set to star in a recurring role as Dina in Season 2 of The Last of Us, and she’ll be playing Hawkgirl in James Gunn‘s Superman.
Playing Aza’s best friend, Daisy Ramirez is Cree Cicchino, the bubbly and more outgoing counterpart to Aza’s nervousness. Daisy is obsessed with true love and wants Daisy to experience it for herself. When she’s not busy hanging out with Aza, she can be found fangirling over Star Wars. Cicchino stars as Luisa Torres in And Just Like That… and played the main role of Marisol Fuentes in Mr. Iglesias. Another one of Aza’s friends is Mychal Turner, played by Maliq Johnson. A talented art student, Turner was Daisy’s boyfriend for a brief period. Johnson played Kevin in The Many Saints of Newark and Jayson Jackson in Grand Army.
Felix Mallard joins the cast as Davis Pickett, Aza’s childhood crush and recent love interest. Coming from a wealthy family, not everything is riches and gold for Davis. As a young boy, his mother died, followed by his father’s sudden disappearance. Mallad is no stranger to young adult movies and television. Mallard starred as Roamer in All the Bright Places, followed by his roles as Lucas Caravaggio in Locke & Key and Marcus Baker in Ginny & Georgia.
Rounding out the cast is Poorna Jagannathan as Dr. Singh, Judy Reyes as Gina Holmes, and J. Smith-Cameron as Professor Abbott. Jagannathan is best known for playing Safar Khan in HBO’s The Night Of and Nalini Vishwakumar in Netflix’s Never Have I Ever. Reyes gained prominence for her role as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/ABC medical series Scrubs and most recently starred in the horror flick Smile. Smith-Cameron gained headlines for her solid portrayal of Gerri Kilman in HBO’s Succession, earning her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
What Is ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ About?
Check out the official synopsis for Turtles All the Way Down from MAX:
“TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced). It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying… trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.”
Who Is Making ‘Turtles All the Way Down’?
Green is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of some of this generation’s most popular books. Since publishing his first novel, “Looking for Alaska” in 2005, Green further paved his writing path with notable works like “An Abundance of Katherines”, “Paper Towns”, “The Fault in Our Stars”, and “Turtles All the Way Down”. Over the years, especially during the golden era of Tumblr, Green’s books and the author himself garnered worldwide popularity. So far, 24 million copies of his books have sold in print and have been published in more than 55 languages. Besides his writing endeavors, Green and his brother Hank post videos on their educational YouTube channel, Crash Course.
Turtles All the Way Downis directed by Hannah Marks. In addition to her acting portfolio, Marks has made her mark in the directing scene with films like After Everything and Don’t Make Me Go. Joining her are executive producers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, who also serve as the film’s screenplay writers. The duo’s previous writing credits include Love, Simon and This Is Us. Completing the team are Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, and Isaac Klausner as producers. Turtles All the Way Down is produced by New Line Cinema and Temple Hill, with Richard Brener, Nikki Ramey, and Paulina Sussman executive producing on behalf of the former, and Laura Quicksilver, Bart Lipton, Green, and Rosianna Halse Rojas joining as executive producers.
This article was originally published on collider.com