‘Wish You Were Here’ (2025) Review – Another Terminally-Ill Love Song

It’s all so familiar – Girl meets boy. Girl falls madly in love with Boy. Girl loses boy…because she finds out he’s actually stricken with a fatal disease that will upend their relationship before it even starts. While there’s nothing wrong with one dipping their toes into familiar territory, it’s important to at least show your own unique sense of vision when you do it. Julia Stiles has made the transition from in front of the camera to behind it, and promises a bright future…once she can iron out the kinks.

Here, Stiles plays it safe. A little too safe. Actually, quite extremely safe. You’re not quite sure if it’s a lack of confidence or just an unwillingness to rock the boat, but the film never once teeters on the verge of even slightly breaking from formula. There are several examples of similar films that have this story, and sadly, if you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all. Stiles simply throws her latest one on the top of the pile.

We’re helped at least, by a star-studded cast that features Isabelle Fuhrman as our lead, Charlotte, a 20-something waitress stuck in a rut who falls for a random delivery guy and part-time artist named Adam, played by Aladdin’s Mena Massoud. After a whirlwind romantic night together, Adam brushes her off and drops contact with her for reasons he doesn’t reveal. Afterward, Charlotte strikes up a new relationship with Seth (Jimmie Fails) until she finally gets word of his illness.

What follows are the emotional beats of a sad love story where the couple dreams of a future together that can never be and cries about the time lost while spending as much time as they can together until his eventual demise. Along this tale, Stiles mixes in a story about growing up and moving on from the other relationships we have and how they can change over time at any moment. This is mostly shown through Charlotte’s friendship with her roommate, Helen (Gabby Kono-Abdy) as she prepares to move out and marry her new boyfriend Roddy (Josh Caras) whom she’s only known for a short time. This side story actually has more layers to it than it’s given time for, and maybe it would have been worth exploring more to fill in a side of Charlotte that is definitely missing. 

The film also has a cameo appearance from Kelsey Grammer, and Stiles even has her younger sister, Jane show up for a few scenes. While it is great to see some familiar faces, and they all do a decent job in the roles they are given, much of the strength of the film starts early and then fizzles out once we know where we’re going. 

If you’ve ever seen any of these tragi-rom-com’s before, they all tend to follow around the same beats. Usually ending with one of the lovers gone and the other one figuring out what to do next. Whether it’s pursuing a new passion, chasing after something they’ve wanted but were too afraid to commit to, or even seeking to start a new relationship. Wish You Were Here, coming in at just 83 minutes, only has time to do the latter. Leaving much out there that really could’ve, and probably should’ve, been discussed. 

If you’re a fan of Julia Stiles, don’t let this first ride out the gate discourage you. Stiles has proved herself competent and if given time, may be able to develop her own voice behind the camera as eloquently and commandingly as she once did in front of it. 

Wish You Were Here is currently playing in select theaters and is available on Digital platforms courtesy of Lionsgate.