There's no greater satisfaction than seeing a book you once felt so passionately about finally being brought to life on the big screen [1], and especially when the films actually compare to the books that inspire them. While books being made into big-screen hits has long been a longtime trend in Hollywood (that won't be going away any time soon), 2018 saw a bevy of book-to-movie adaptations that actually lived up to the hype. Here's a look back at some of our favourites.
BlacKkKlansman
The Spike Lee-directed film tells the the crazy-but-true story [3] of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who, before writing the 2014 memoir upon which the movie is based, infiltrated the KKK in the late 1970s with the help of his Jewish partner, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver).
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Based on Jenny Han's book of the same name, To All the Boys I've Loved Before [4] follows Lara Jean Covey, a teenager whose quiet high school experience is turned upside down when the secret love letters she writes to all of her crushes are accidentally sent out and read by all of the aforementioned boys. The teen romance movie was just one in a series of rom-coms that had a huge moment in 2018, and it very quickly became one of Netflix's most viewed original films [5].
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas's bestselling novel [6] was brought to life on-screen this fall with Amandla Stenberg [7] as the film's star. She plays Starr Carter, a high school student whose world is upended after she witnesses her childhood friend get murdered by a white police officer.
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wrinkle in Time, which follows a young girl named Meg (Storm Reid [8]) as she travels through time and space to save her missing father, was praised for its diverse, all-star cast [9], stunning CGI effects, and, of course, Oprah. The original book was written by Madeleine L'Engle.
Love, Simon
In Love, Simon [10], Nick Robinson [11] plays Simon Spier, a gay 17-year-old who, despite having not yet to come out to his friends and family, falls for an anonymous classmate in a similar situation after corresponding with them online. The movie is based on the novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.
Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians centres on Rachel Chu, a New Yorker who travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's insanely wealthy family. The film, which is based on Kevin Kwon's 2014 best-seller, made history before it even hit theatres [12] this summer, as it was the first major studio film to feature a full Asian and Asian-American cast since The Joy Luck Club in 1993.
Boy Erased
Based on author Garrard Conley's memoir [13] of the same name , Boy Erased [14] tells the heartbreaking story of Jared (Lucas Hedges), a teenage boy whose Christian parents force him to attend a gay conversion program.