Paper Towns (2015)
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A teenager embarks on a road trip to find his childhood crush after she mysteriously disappears from their suburban neighborhood.
The story
Quentin "Q" Jacobsen lives across the street from Margo Roth Spiegelman in Jefferson Park, a subdivision of Orlando, Florida. While Margo is a popular girl with an adventurous reputation, Quentin is a kind, unassertive outcast. After Margo recruits Quentin for an all-night revenge adventure against her unfaithful boyfriend, she mysteriously disappears. Finding clues left behind, Quentin realizes Margo deliberately left a trail. He joins forces with his friends, Benjamin and Marcus, to search for her, eventually discovering she has fled to a paper town in New York.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Quentin "Q" Jacobsen lives across the street from Margo Roth Spiegelman in Jefferson Park, Orlando, Florida. They were childhood friends who drifted apart after discovering a local lawyer's corpse. Margo is now a popular high school girl, while Quentin is an unpopular outcast. One night, Margo recruits Quentin for a revenge prank on her boyfriend, Jason, and his new girlfriend, Rebecca. After the prank, Margo disappears. Quentin finds clues suggesting she left intentionally. He, along with friends Benjamin and Marcus, goes on a road trip to Agloe, a paper town in New York. During the trip, Quentin befriends Margo's best friend, Lacey, who left her friends in disgust over the affair. In Agloe, Quentin finds Margo and confesses his love, but she rejects him, explaining she ran away to escape her dysfunctional family and find herself. She left the clues to ensure he knew she was safe, not to be found. Quentin returns home for prom and eventually heads to college, learning ambiguous stories about Margo's life.
- First release year
- 2015
- Runtime (minutes)
- 109
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Jake Schreier
- Writers
- Scott Neustadter · screenplay; Michael H. Weber · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Nat Wolff · Quentin "Q" Jacobsen; Cara Delevingne · Margo Roth Spiegelman; Halston Sage · Lacey Pemberton; Austin Abrams · Benjamin "Ben" Starling; Justice Smith · Marcus "Radar" Lincoln; Jaz Sinclair · Angela; Cara Buono · Connie Jacobsen; Griffin Freeman · Jason "Jase" Worthington
- Genres
- teen comedy drama; mystery; road comedy-drama; romantic comedy-drama
- Themes
- coming-of-age; friendship; identity; revenge
- Tone and mood
- mixed; average
- Setting
- Jefferson Park, Orlando, Florida and Agloe, New York
- Premise and plot tags
- teen; mystery; road trip; romance
- Source material / true-story basis
- 2008 novel of the same name by John Green
- Content notes
- bullying
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $85 million worldwide against a production budget of $12 million.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 56 · scale: 100 · review count: 34
- Awards and nominations
- Teen Choice Award · winning films · win
- Production trivia
- The location was changed from SeaWorld to avoid controversy following the Blackfish documentary.; John Green wrote the first draft of the screenplay himself.; The film was originally intended for a July 31, 2015 release.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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