SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Tessa (Dakota Fanning) has the same lust for life as her best friend Zoey (Kaya Scodelario) but Tessa won’t live to see her 18th birthday, go to university or raise a family.

She is losing her battle with leukaemia and is painfully aware of the few precious days and weeks that remain.

So Tessa makes a list of dreams she would like to fulfil before she dies, including losing her virginity, taking drugs and going shoplifting with Zoey.

Tessa’s protective father (Paddy Considine) and flighty mother (Olivia Williams) are determined to protect their daughter as best they can in these final weeks but the teenager wants to take risks.

This includes falling hopelessly in love with hunky neighbour Adam (Jeremy Irvine), who is ill prepared for Tessa’s deterioration.

Based on the book, ‘Before I Die’ by Jenny Downham, Now Is Good is a touching drama about two teenagers united in the shadow of terminal illness, written and directed for the screen by Ol Parker.

The script is laced with dry humour and Fanning sports a credible English accent as the plucky heroine and she sparks pleasing on-screen chemistry with rising star Irvine.