In Portland, Oregon, 17-year-old Mia (Moretz) and her younger brother (Davies) have a great life with their rock-n-roll parents (Enos and Leonard). But Mia walks to her own beat: obsessed with classical music. It's her passion for playing cello that catches the eye of high school rock-god Adam (Blackley), who woos her impeccably. But their diverging plans strain their burgeoning romance, and in one of the bad patches, Mia and her family are in a life-threatening car crash. As she watches events unfold from outside her body, she wonders whether she really wants to survive.

The story is splintered out of sequence as memories that swirl around Mia's mind as she makes this epic decision. Based on Gayle Forman's novel, the script doesn't let her off lightly, piling on pressure (she's waiting to hear if she got into Juilliard) and a series of surprising events up the stakes dramatically. And the side roles, including Mia's loyal best pal (Liberato) and emotive grandfather (Keach), offer potent scenes for terrific actors.

At the centre, Moretz brings a strikingly open-handed performance that's very easy to identify with. Even if her life seems like something from a fairy tale, almost too perfect with the best boyfriend in history, Moretz gives Mia an undercurrent of grit that makes her inner struggle palpable. And Blackley delivers a star-making turn as the dreamy Adam, a bad boy who's also thoughtful, open, smart, soulful and on the verge of mega-stardom as a rocker. That he's even remotely believable is a serious achievement.

Of course this genre demands surging waves of syrupy sentiment, but director Cutler and writer Cross undercut that in a variety of ways while still wrenching those tears from the audience's eyes. They also manage to get through to older viewers by making the central themes remarkably universal. This may be a coming-of-age story about a teen girl, but everyone can identify with the discovery that life is often messy, and that's exactly what makes it worth living.

themes, language, some grisliness

26.Aug.14