Though earnestly framed, Henry’s motives feel uneasy. When Henry follows Grace to a local cemetery, he learns she lost her childhood sweetheart in the same car crash that damaged her leg, and the resulting wounds are much deeper than first anticipated.Īs the grieving girlfriend struggling with a new disability, Reinhart turns in a guttural, commanding performance that quickly overshadows Abrams, and feels at odds with their increasingly problematic on-screen dynamic. Unable to grab her attention, a few quick Google image searches of his new crush soon lead – with encouragement from his friends – to outright stalking (we’ll call this strike one).

Escape seems imminent when new student Grace is turns up in class, a standoffish fellow wordsmith who walks with a cane and is played by Lili Reinhart ( Hustlers, Riverdale).Īs the pair rub shoulders and share lingering glances while working together on the school paper, Grace’s detached air, huge opal eyes and mutual intellect act as catnip to Henry. With a clean jawline, wiry frame and endless supply of knitted sweaters, the auspicious writer craves a ticket out of his self-described “unremarkable” life. Austin Abrams ( Euphoria, This Is Us), plays Henry, the blueprint of a male high school protagonist. Based on Krystal Sutherland’s high school-set novel, Chemical Hearts is a multi-layered study of teen grief marred by ethical ambiguity.

Chemical hearts