Film

Midnight Sun

Name: Midnight Sun
Genre: Romance, Drama
Released: 2018
Cast: Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle, Quinn Shephard, Ken Tremblett

Other titles called Midnight Sun: the 2016 series (SVT1).

A teen romance about a girl with a rare photosensitivity disorder who meets a boy and experiences a summer of first love despite her confinement. It's earnest, emotionally direct, and aimed squarely at people who believe in the redemptive power of connection. Sincere without being cynical, though it doesn't aim to surprise you.

TMDb rating

3.9

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The Fault in Our Stars2014

Two teens with life-altering conditions find each other and fall in love. It balances genuine emotion with the strange grace of young people facing mortality—heartfelt without being maudlin.

But If you find oncology-romance narratives manipulative or resent the implication that love redeems suffering, this will feel designed to extract tears rather than earn them.

Five Feet Apart2019

A cystic fibrosis romance where two patients must maintain physical distance. It respects its characters' medical reality while exploring what connection means when touch itself is forbidden.

But The central premise—intimacy defined by separation—can feel contrived, and the film occasionally treats illness as poetic metaphor rather than lived experience.

The Theory of Everything2014

A girl with severe immunodeficiency experiences the world through her boyfriend's eyes. It's visually playful and captures the specific vertigo of first love as escape route.

But The twist reframes everything retroactively, and if you see it coming, the film's emotional scaffolding collapses. Also borders on romanticizing isolation as romance setup.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Midnight Sun

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind2019

Both center on a teenager transcending physical limitation (light sensitivity / poverty) through will and connection. Both believe in young people's capacity to reshape their own narrative.

A Malawian teen invents an irrigation system to save his village from famine. Like Midnight Sun, it's about a young person transforming their world through ingenuity and determination. Earned emotion, no shortcuts, and based on a true story.

But Deliberately paced and unadorned—no romance, no score swells. If you came for teen drama beats, the film's quietly observational style will feel slow.

The Sun Is Also a Star2019

Two teens meet by chance in New York and fall in love over a single day. Optimistic about connection and beautifully shot, with genuine chemistry and a philosophical bent.

But The fatalistic romance framework can feel slight, and the film sometimes mistakes lyrical dialogue for depth.

Paper Towns2015

A teen obsesses over a mysterious girl and follows her into an adventure. It's self-aware about its own teenage delusion in ways that earned audience appreciation.

But Some find it whiny and self-indulgent. The critique of the protagonist's romanticizing can feel like permission to romanticize the film itself.

The Summer I Turned Pretty2022

A girl goes to beach town for summer, reconnects with childhood friends, and navigates her first real love triangle. Charming, nostalgic, aimed at people who love sun-soaked romance.

But Plot is thin, stakes are low, and if you're past the YA demographic it may feel insubstantial. Streaming comfort food rather than something demanding.

Never Been Kissed1999

An undercover journalist poses as a high school student and finds unexpected romance. Light and funny, with genuine warmth and a lead performance that makes you root for her.

But The age-gap element (teacher-student) is played as cute rather than troubling, which lands differently now. Also relies on makeover clichés.

Sierra Burgess Is a Loser2018

A girl catfishes a boy online while helping her more popular peer. It's funny, has real stakes about identity and belonging, and doesn't condescend to its audience.

But The central deception gets moralized in ways that can feel muddled. Also darker in places than the marketing suggests, which some found disorienting.

Midnight at the Magnolia2020

Two competing inn managers are snowed in together over Christmas. It's a formula romance, but genuinely likeable leads and a script that trusts its own warmth.

But Pure formula—if you've seen ten Hallmark movies, you know exactly where this goes. No surprises, and that might be the point in ways that feel too easy.

Before Sunrise1995

Both films distill romance to its essential ingredient: the experience of being truly seen by another person. Neither needs spectacle—just attention.

Two strangers meet on a train and spend one night walking Vienna, talking. It's a romance about conversation and connection, shot with tenderness and intelligence. Nearly three decades later, it's still peerless.

But Nothing happens in the plot sense. If you need conflict or external stakes to stay invested, the film's commitment to dialogue and presence will feel static.

Kodachrome2017

Midnight Sun is about seeing—a girl who can't experience daylight. Kodachrome is also about sight, but inverted: how we frame and preserve what we see. Both are ultimately about bearing witness to another person's existence.

A father and son take a road trip to close a photo lab, arguing and slowly understanding each other. It's a film about sight itself—what we choose to see, what we miss, how we frame each other. Quiet and observant, with real affection for its characters.

But Dialogue-heavy and meditative. The emotional payoffs come through glances and silences rather than declarations. If you prefer clarity to suggestion, you'll find it withholding.