Then Came You

It isn't its own genre yet, but it's a very popular plotline–the teenager with a terminal illness. These films seem ubiquitous this decade, but maybe this trend isn't unusual, just another manifestation of the sentiment and self-indulgence of adolescents.

Because there are so many of these movies, they also seem to have become "higher concept," the premise behind "Then Came You" being the teenager with terminal cancer is really just a hypochondriac.

Asa Butterfield plays this role, Calvin, a college dropout who isn't quite ready to leave his parent's home; so he keeps a regular journal of his symptoms, hoping that one of them will manifest into something important. Butterfield is also the salvation of this movie; from his thoughtful, penetrating gazes to his goofy yet perfectly choreographed dancing, he imbues each frame he appears in with charm.

Calvin latest fear is cancer; so his father sends him to a support group, in a last-ditch effort to snap him out of it. Here he meets Skye (Maisie Williams, in a decidedly less compelling and more obnoxious performance), a girl about his age who is actually on her last leg but who refuses to indulge in self-pity.

Instead, Skye has decided to convert her bucket list into an opportunity to commit a series of misdemeanors, crimes that would have consequence down the road, if the road were any longer. But Skye also does some decidedly good things as well, most notably she gives Calvin the courage to face his fears, live life boldly and ask out a co-worker, Izzy (Nina Dobrev).

Calvin and Izzy work at an airport; so cinematographically, we get to go behind the scenes and into those places that the TSA never allows us. Also, we get another ironic metaphor–an unusual occupation for a boy who is afraid of heights and unable to get his life off the ground.

"Then Came You" blends black comedy with PG-13 romance and lands on a sentiment to humor scale somewhere between "Beaches" and "Steel Magnolias." And, perhaps more importantly, it features Ken Jeong in a supporting role as a police officer with a soft spot for criminals who suffer from an incurable disease.

This Blu-ray disc includes a making-of featurette and the original theatrical trailer.

"Then Came You"
Blu-ray $19.95
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