The film received mixed reviews, with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus calling it "more manipulative than moving", although Moretz's performance was praised.

Seventeen-year-old aspiring cellist Mia Hall and her family hear an announcement on the radio that school has been canceled due to high levels of snow.

Years later, an adolescent Mia met Adam Wilde, a popular student and up-and-coming rockstar, while in the music room at school, and they soon began dating.

As Mia undergoes surgery, she sees a doctor speaking with her grandparents, who are standing outside of a pediatric room where Teddy lies in a coma-like state.

George talks to Mia's body, revealing that when her father first discovered her talent for playing cello, he decided to sacrifice his career and sell his drum kit so he could fund her own future in music.

She is about to allow herself to succumb to her injuries, but stops when she hears the piece she performed at the cello recital she had attended with Adam, who is sitting next to her and playing the song for her on his iPod.

In December 2010, it was announced that a film based on the novel If I Stay was in the works at Summit Entertainment and that Dakota Fanning, Chloë Grace Moretz and Emily Browning were in talks to play Mia.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Although Chloë Grace Moretz gives it her all and the story adds an intriguing supernatural twist to its melodramatic YA framework, If I Stay is ultimately more manipulative than moving.

"[18] Writing for Variety, Justin Chang criticized Moretz's acting, explaining that "she comes off as a bit too self-assured to play the nerdy misfit.

"[19] Anthony Lane of The New Yorker wrote a critical review of the movie, saying, "The saddest thing about 'If I Stay' is that it affords Moretz so little opportunity to be non-sad."