Booksmart | Film Review

Hey Guys x

You've probably heard about this film, so many people have been talking about it since it first came out in the US. However, I have no idea what cinema's are doing with it - in the first two weeks of it being out, I hadn't seen a showing before 8.30pm, which is really inconvenient and annoying, especially when most movies have multiple daily showings, so it was really hard to see it. Nevertheless, I did get the chance to see it, and you should see it too.

Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) made the choice to focus on school by avoiding partying, so they could get into great colleges, and it worked! But when they discover that all of their school's underachievers also got into those great colleges, they wonder why they stopped themselves from having the same high school experience as everyone else. To make up for lost time, they decide to spend their last night together before graduation attending the party of the year. But with many little adventures dotted along the way, the girls discover that there are more important things in life than parties or books.

The first word that comes to mind when I think about this movie is 'unapologetic'. Both the characters and the film itself are unapologetic - they know who they are, and don't try to be something they're not.

While the idea of two girls wanting to party because they've spent so much time studying is an original premise for a coming-of-age movie, but the trope of high school students having one last adventure before going their separate ways has been done a million times. Having said that, this is one of the better versions of it.

Personally, I found it hard to connect with the main characters, particularly Molly, who is a teenage version of Hannah Horvath from 'Girls', academic and selfish. You can sympathise with them, but they're not people that you would want to spend time with. In fact, there isn't a character in this high school that you as the audience like.
The film reminded me a lot of the movie 'Blockers', but due to the difference in likeable characters, it wasn't as enjoyable or fun to watch as Blockers was. It was just as funny and smart, but the story in itself was more important to me than the actual characters.

The friendship between the two girls is extremely realistic - their personalities don't clash because one is the leader who is more outgoing, and the other is more submissive. This makes the confrontation that occurs all the more powerful. You see the foundations of their friendship start to crumble when the more submissive friend decides to take charge. And the confrontation in itself is perfect, because you can completely understand where they're both coming from.

This movie is marketed as a film about female friendship above all else, and that's what it is. The friendship between the two girls is always the most important thing, and that's what makes the movie so refreshing.

Overall, this is a great directorial debut from Olivia Wilde, and you should definitely see it if a cinema near you happens to have a convenient showing.

7/10

Lou