Life in a Year Parent Guide

Opposites attract, so they say, and that seems to be true of Daryn (Jaden Smith) and Isabelle (Cara Delevingne). Daryn is diligently following his father’s blueprint for success – excel in academics and track, go to an Ivy League school, and enjoy a life of wealth and security. Isabelle is a high school dropout who works at an ice cream store. Beneath her ever-changing pastel-hued hair, she’s unconventional, defiant, fiercely independent, and incredibly attractive to the buttoned-down young man.

Isabelle also has terminal ovarian cancer.

When Daryn hears about her diagnosis, his management skills come to the fore. Determined to give her a lifetime of milestones in her remaining months, he gets out his planning calendar and post-it notes and starts scheduling their truncated future. The young couple go house-hunting, blow out birthday candles, and get a pet fish. A good time is had by all until Isabelle feels the weight of the larger milestones she will never see and which can’t be manufactured…

Teen weepies are an enduringly popular genre: for some reason, young female audiences enjoy bawling their eyes out over the untimely death of another young woman. I can’t explain it, but I think they are moved by the devotion of the young man; the idea that a man can be so dedicated to a woman that he will stay with her in any extremity. Daryn certainly fits the bill for this kind of romantic hero. Considering he’s a high school senior, his commitment is nothing short of remarkable. Unlike some teen weepies, this movie doesn’t soft focus cancer – there is pain, exhaustion, weakness, and bloody vomit. Daryn is even shown scrubbing out bedpans. If you’re struggling to get your teenagers to unload the dishwasher, you might be tempted to stick them in front of the movie so they can see what real work looks like.

Before you send your teens off to watch this tender story of teenage devotion, you will want to consider the film’s negative content. There’s a fair bit of swearing, off-screen marijuana use, and some strongly implied sexual activity. There are also scenes where criminal behavior is glamorized: when Daryn shoplifts food from a gas station, Isabelle cheers him on and she’s impressed when he breaks into an empty motel room so they will have a free room for the night.

One of the most worrying parts of the movie is the relationship between Daryn and his father, Xavier (Cuba Gooding Jr). Before he meets Isabelle, Daryn has obediently trod the path laid out by his father but as his goals and priorities shift, conflict heats up at home. The script gives Daryn a binary choice: obey dad or rebel. This is not a message that benefits teens and the movie would do its audiences a favor if it demonstrated less explosive ways of handling conflict.

This flawed father/son relationship stands in stark contrast to the romance that underpins the film. Teen films usually focus on sexual attraction and it’s a relief to see a film where love is more than hormones; where it is about fidelity, compassion, forgiveness, selflessness, and putting another’s needs ahead of your own. Despite the bumps along the way and in the face of a terrifying diagnosis, these young people learn what it means to stay together “in sickness and in health”.