The Fault in Our Stars First Watch: "That Was a Really, Really Good Movie"

We went into The Fault in Our Stars on Disney Plus with almost no spoilers beyond knowing it ends sad, and it still caught us off guard. The verdict by the credits was unanimous: "That was a good movie, Mike." "That was a really good movie. That was a really, really good movie." "That was rough, man."

What threw us was Augustus. He is introduced as cancer free, or at least in remission, so we did not expect him to be the one to go first. "You don't expect him to be the one to go first. I had a feeling maybe that was going to happen, but I was hoping that wasn't going to happen just because it just so out of nowhere." We even joked that the real twist would have been if they both survived.

The Amsterdam Trip Refuses the Happy Ending We Expected

The structure impressed us because it does not stick to the convention we assumed it would follow. The whole first half builds toward meeting the reclusive author Peter Van Houten, and we expected that reunion to be the warm, cathartic centerpiece. Instead he turns out to be a drunk who cannot get through the meeting without being cruel, and the movie moves past him entirely to deal with something much bigger.

The Anne Frank house scene built real tension for us, especially after Hazel had already been warned by her doctors and by Van Houten's assistant about the stairs. "I was so nervous. I was stressed. I was like, this trip has already gone bad, it could go worse." The relief of her making it up the stairs and the kiss that follows, and then the gut punch that Augustus's cancer has returned, is what stuck with us most.

The Comedy, the Parents, and the Ending That Doesn't Let Van Houten Off the Hook

We also noticed how well the comic relief is placed, particularly Isaac's storyline after his surgery and the scene where the group eggs a car outside Monica's house. It never tips into feeling like padding, and every light scene did not automatically lead into tragedy, which kept us from bracing for the worst constantly. We thought the parents were written realistically too, supportive without becoming caricatures, with a subtle current of what we called toxic positivity running underneath their encouragement.

We appreciated that Van Houten is not redeemed by the end. Hazel still throws him out of the car and calls him a "douche pants," and that confrontation stays uncomfortable rather than turning into easy forgiveness. The pre death eulogy scene, where Augustus asks to hear what people would say about him before he dies, was singled out as the most emotional beat, along with the line that "funerals are not for the dead, they're for the living."

Shailene Woodley's performance stood out as, in our words, "about the best part of the Divergent trilogy," and Ansel Elgort was called really good as well. We also talked about wanting to check out other John Green adaptations, including Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, after this one.

How closely did this adaptation follow John Green's novel, and did it live up to what readers who loved the book already knew was coming?