The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

I think anyone contemplating watching this movie should go in with the knowledge that if you struggle dealing with second hand embarrassment or any level of cringe comedy, you are going to have trouble. I genuinely had to take a few breaks from watching this movie. 

Hailee Steinfeld is actually believable as a weird kid teenager balancing the complexities of mental health, worsened after the loss of her father, with the minefield of adolescence and high school social warfare. Due to how intensely unlikeable teenagers are, these coming of age movies toe a tricky line, but thankfully the characters a given enough depth that their horribleness feels real and relateable and painful. Like “oh god, I did something like that, didn’t I?” painful. I was having a lot of really uncomfortable flashbacks that I'd rather leave alone.

The supporting cast varied wildly in successfulness - the standout was absolutely Hayden Szeto as a nerdy clearly-telegraphed-love-interest - but I did feel like where characterisation was emphasised on Steinfeld’s Nadine, it got lost with the side characters. Their performances were great, but their roles were undercooked - in order to really root for them and care about their development, I felt like some time and a bit more attention really needed to be focused on that. This was most notable with the relationship between Nadine’s brother and best friend, which seemed rushed and underdeveloped to me, eternal skeptic and hater of love.

There was real potential to explore mental health as it pertains to everyday life and relationships without this being a Very Special Movie. It dipped its toes in at time, particularly through Kyra Sedgewick’s portrayal of Nadine’s mother and how there’s clearly some form of genetic predisposition to depression and disordered mental health. I wish there had been some real commitment to that exploration in lieu of some of the "lol-teenagers-are-awful" stuff it defaulted to instead. It’s one of the reasons I took issue with Woody Harrelson’s history teacher character, whose dialogue was fine from a comedic level but would absolutely not fly in a real school. If a student came up to you and told you she was suicidal and you responded like you were in an indie comedy, you would be in the wrong. That’s against a lot of codes. It made me uncomfortable, and kept drawing me out of the film, which was otherwise painfully real.

Rating: 7.5/10 - I really enjoyed the darkness in The Edge of Seventeen and how it didn't shy away from uncomfortable subjects. Certain elements withdrew me from the experience and stopped me from fully enjoying it, and I’m not just talking second hand embarrassment.