Booksmart is a coming-of-age comedy film following Amy, Kaitlyn Dever, and Molly, Beanie Feldstein, as they come to the end of their senior year at high-school. Having focused on their studies and branded ‘the smart girls’ by their peers, Molly cannot help but feel they have missed out on an important part of their high school experience – partying.
It becomes her mission to make the night before graduation one to remember by going to the party of the most popular boy in school, Nick, played by Mason Gooding. Dragging Amy along, the best friends are taken on a wild goose chase to find Nick’s party and encounter drugs, awkward Lift rides and more parties than they could have ever wanted.
This movie deals with a lot of heavy issues, such as gender roles, LGBTQI+, sex, friendships and education, in a light-hearted and fun way which is very relatable for this generation of young people. In Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, she said she wanted to make a coming-of-age movie like the ones that helped her as a teen, like Clueless and Dazed and Confused. “I really wanted to direct a movie for younger people to kind of be a generational anthem. I really benefitted from those movies, they helped us contextualise the experience of being young, being a kid, being different. And I wanted to make something like that for this generation,” she told Variety. Wilde also creates wonderful characters which have not been traditionally represented in popular media: for example, the educated and outwardly feminist woman and young, confident LGBTQI+ students.
As well as the amazing storyline and characters, the soundtrack and costumes add to the fun atmosphere of the whole movie. If you’re looking for a hilarious, feel-good movie to watch, Booksmart is out in cinemas on 11 July. You can view the trailer here.
Readers also enjoyed this review of Annabelle Comes Home.
