(Credit: Netflix)

You probably remember the moment Five Feet Apart was literally everywhere. Back when Cole Sprouse edits were unavoidable, and Netflix gave us soft romantic dramas that still knew how to make people cry. But the film disappeared from conversations far quicker than it deserved to.

Sitting on Netflix now, it feels like one of those titles people scroll past because they think they already know how it ends, even though the real impact of this story has very little to do with its conclusion and everything to do with how it makes you feel emotions in every inch of your body.

And can we please take a moment for the dialogue in the film? The chemistry between Cole and Haley’s characters felt so real for a second; everyone thought someone they knew was struggling with a fatal disease.

The story builds itself around a single, very brutal limitation. Will and Stella both have cystic fibrosis, and they live on the same hospital floor. They fall for each other while knowing that even getting too close could be fatal, and hence, five feet becomes the distance they are allowed, the line they cannot cross.

What makes the film work is not the concept itself, but how deeply it commits to that restriction, letting the tension grow from pauses and withheld movement. At times, you feel the moments where nothing happens except the feeling that something desperately wants to.

And since it’s a film based entirely on interactions, Balsoni made sure that the viewers get enough time to absorb and process them. Hence, even if conversations stretch longer than expected, you don’t feel bored.

Haley Lu Richardson gives Stella a sharp sense of control that feels necessary rather than performative. She clings to routines and tracks numbers and structures. Basically, her strict routine is the only thing letting her live a little longer, and you can feel how frightening it is for her to let anything interrupt that order.

Then we have Cole Sprouse, who plays Will with a resistance to rules, pushing back in small ways that never feel reckless, only tired, as if he has already accepted what the limits of his life might be. Together, they never fall into easy roles or dramatic extremes. They simply exist next to each other, learning how to care without crossing lines that could cost them everything.

And now the real deal, aka the director of the film. Justin Baldoni’s direction understands that this story does not need embellishment. You never feel the hospital turning into a cold backdrop. The space between Will and Stella is treated with intention, framed carefully so it never feels like just a background.

Letting the scenes breathe was the key, and Baldoni made sure he was doing justice to it. And that’s the reason why even after the whole It Ends With Us fiasco, the film made sure to leave an impact, courtesy of Justin Baldoni.

What stays with you after watching Five Feet Apart is the feeling that love does not always look like closeness and that wanting something you cannot fully have can be more powerful than getting it. It respects its characters enough to let them live with that reality instead of forcing a resolution.

That is why it deserves another watch. Not because it aims to devastate, but because it treats its story with patience and emotional clarity. Five Feet Apart is still there on Netflix, and before the OTT decides to show it the way out, make sure you stream it.