Close to the Horizon

I am just going to talk about the illness, that one of our main characters has to ... well live with. Apart from that no other spoilers, but still I want to give those the chance who do not want to know anything about the story to choose not to read this review. Having said that, I reckon the story synopsis (which I obviously haven't read) does tell us that we have a character who is sick with HIV ... now if in other movies characters are sick, they have something that while also devastating, are not as tabboo as HIV is. How do you deal with someone who has it? How do you react if a friend decides to befriend someone who has it? Now it is easy (and right) to say you will support them ... but how will reality look like? Words matter, but actions do even more so. A really tough movie to watch, especially because as with other someone is sick movies, you know hardships will come - drama baby and all that. The acting is really good and elevates the whole thing ... not an easy watch, but you probably already assumed that.

This story focuses on numerous heavy topics we don't see in movies for young adults that frequently. And the fact that it is actually based on a true story only makes it even more heartbreaking. It hit me right where my heart is. This is more than just an ordinary love story you usually read books or watch movies about; it's an extraordinary story about deep and pure love, hope, bravery, injustice and pain. It's one of the most emotional and powerful love stories that will resonate with you long, long after you finish watching the movie. Definitely not an easy watch and it will take me a long time to process everything. It's definitely not a typical teen romance drama we're so used to seeing on screen; this story is a lot, lot more than that. If you're a fan of Nicholas Sparks' stories or Jojo Moyes' Me Before You, you'll definitely love this one as well. Or if you just love eye-opening stories that touch your soul and make you think. Also, this movie is based on a book written by Jessica Koch which I read afterwards and I must say, this movie is just a glimpse of everything the book covers and only provides a shortened and simplified version of this beautiful and heartbreaking story. The book goes even more deeper and a lot more topics are actually discussed in it. If you liked the movie, give the book a chance as well, it's worth it, it will forever change the way you see the world. P. S. If you want to fully enjoy the movie without any spoilers, I recommend you not to watch the trailer first; it might ruin the big "revelation" that so got me... I'm so glad I usually don't watch trailers at all. When it came to that scene, I was 99 % sure he'd say he had cancer, but actually... 😱