Movie Review: If I Stay *Spoilers*

If I Stay
Starring Chloe Grace Moretz
Release Date: August 22, 2014
If I Stay is an inspirational story about life in all its forms. Death is no the end of life but a form of life. This is what is depicted in the film based off the book by Gayle Forman.
Chloe Grace Moretz portrays Mia Hall, a gifted musical artist with a loving family, friends, and boyfriend. She has everything a girl could want.
When the film opens up, we find Mia home on a snow day eagerly awaiting a letter from Julliard to see if she got accepted or not. Her family convinces her to take a ride with them, spend the day outside the house with them instead of staying cooped up waiting for the letter.
During their family outing, the Hall family get into a fatal car accident. Unaware of what's going on, she frantically searches for her parents and brother until it is brought to light that she is out of her body. She sees herself lying on the ground, unconscious, being attended to by paramedics. Through the film, we travel with Mia through her memories as she comes to grips with the important decision she must make; should she wake up from her coma or let herself go, joining her family in the afterlife. You can feel the conflict she has with this decision because if she goes, she will be reunited with her parents and brother but if she stays, she will say yes to experiencing a new adventure with the love of her life, Adam as well as staying with her grandparents and best friend Kim.
You can feel how torn she is with the knowledge that her parents and brother have already passed on. Although death seems to surround the basis of the movie, it is a beautiful story and beautifully depicted film.
Here is some food for thought which I gathered from watching it:

The reason why Mia is the one to survive, per se, is because originally she was never meant to be on the family outing. Her true desire was to remain home and wait on her letter from Julliard which is a possible reason of why her parents and brother passed so quickly though she lingered.

As I've said before, death isn't the end but a form of life. It is the beginning of a different life. If anything, it shows that either way she chooses, there is happiness waiting for her. However in life she faces the sorrow of not having her family anymore but she has a new family with her grandparents, her friends, and most importantly, Adam.

I love this film as much as I do, The Fault in Our Stars because it teaches about life and makes us realize how much we really take for granted. I recommend this film to everyone and I wish it got more Oscar recognition because this is a unique piece of work. If you haven't seen it, make sure to rent it because I truly believe your life will be changed after watching this film.