‘Turtles All the Way Down’ review: John Green adaptation is a visceral depiction of life with OCD [Video]

Author John Green has a knack for putting readers in the shoes of complicated young adults, from the cancer patients of The Fault in Our Stars to the boarding school crew of Looking for Alaska. But in his 2017 novel Turtles All the Way Down, Green goes deeper into the mind of his protagonist than in any of his other books; that’s a necessity, given that Turtles All the Way Down is all about thoughts. Intrusive thoughts, thought spirals, panicked streams of consciousness — they’re all on the page, delivered through the unforgettable narration of 16-year-old Aza Holmes.

For Max’s film adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down, the question becomes: How do you translate all that interiority to the screen? And director Hannah Marks is more than up to the challenge, crafting a visceral portrait of mental illness as well as a touching coming-of-age story about friendship, first love, and the occasional missing billionaire.

What is Turtles All the Way …