American author and avid YouTube video blogger John Green has taken the spotlight again this summer. Green, who released a film based on his novel The Fault in Our Stars just last year, is at is again with another film based on another novel, Paper Towns. Paper Towns was released on July 24th and has an incredibly talented cast that is fronted by Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne. This mystery comedy-drama follows the story of high school senior Quentin “Q” Jacobsen (Nat Wolff), who has had a long-time fascination and love for his adventurous neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne). After Q and Margo successfully complete a revenge scheme against her cheating ex-boyfriend, Margo disappears and Q is left with mysterious clues that appear to be leading him to her whereabouts.
A lot of the raw honesty in this movie is credited to the way Green adheres to a very realistic depiction of teenagers in high school, expertly balancing humor, hormones, and insecurities. In the film, Q and his friends are finishing up their last weeks of high school in Orlando, Florida, with prom and graduation to look forwards to. Margo’s disappearance leads them on an incredible adventure that teaches them lessons about how to cherish time, embrace spontaneity, and understand the ever-changing condition of the human soul.
Aside from the standout performances by Wolff and Delevingne, Paper Towns boasts an incredible soundtrack. It’s jam-packed with some of today’s best alternative artists. From the Santigold’s dance-able hit “Radio” to the sunny sound of Grouplove’s “Drama Queen” and Vance Joy’s “Great Summer,” the whole setlist contains an abundance of unique sounds that all come together to maintain a fluid and cohesive personality. There’s even a song by Nat Wolff and his brother Alex called “Look Outside” that made its way into the soundtrack. Other artists like Vampire Weekend, HAIM, Galantis, and Twin Shadow have also graced this soundtrack and blessed it with some incredibly addicting tunes. It's up on Spotify and iTunes, so check it out there or here.
Paper Towns is a movie that I wish was released when I was graduating high school. It addresses all of the excitement and fears of leaving home and starting the next chapter of one’s life. A year ago, as I flung my own graduation cap into the hot June sky, I felt just as adventurous and lost as Margo and as apprehensive and curious as Q. Still, whether or not you’re going to prom or decorating your graduation cap, Paper Towns reminds all of us to seize the moment because some of the great opportunities to make memories only exist in a small window of time. And just as sunsets are frustratingly fleeting and months can often seem like days, the only way we can fight time is to embrace it. We must adopt a brave, blind faith and dive headlong into our own messy, beautiful narratives. Only then, can we feel what it’s like to live life not as a plot, but more like an adventure.
