Booksmart Movie Review!
Hey guys! Long time, no see! I recently went to the movies to go and see Booksmart, and I wanted to do a more in-depth review of the movie than I had in the video I posted on YouTube. In case you haven't seen it, I will link the video below so you can check it out! This post won't go quite as into the movie industry as a whole. I delved into it in my video, so I think this post would be best to just go into the movie itself. Here's the video in case you wanted to check that out before I get too far with this post!
Now onto the movie review! So this movie centers on two high school seniors the day before graduation that realize they missed out on the fun parts of high school because they were so concerned with getting far in life. So the girls decide to make up for lost time and have one last hurrah before they go their separate ways. The stand out star of this movie is Beanie Feldstein, who plays Molly. She's the stereotypical overachiever in high school; a person that listens to motivational cassettes in order to remind herself of her hard work will eventually pay off. She's a rather sad character at the beginning of the film because she's the one her peers have the most issues with. She's driven to "prove them wrong" in a sort of way, so upon learning that some of her classmates don't necessarily like her, she flaunts her next moves after high school in an attempt to make herself feel better about her choices. She then learns that her peers have been able to accomplish what she has, without losing out on the experience of high school.
Where Beanie shines in this role, is that she's exactly what you would imagine that overachiever to be like, but as an outsider looking in, you realize that she's got a lot of heart and she's really an insecure girl. She likes a boy she thinks she can't have. And she tries to hide her interest by being mean spirited towards him. But at the end of the movie, you realize that she is a normal girl with normal interests, she just didn't feel like she could express that while still going for what she wanted.
The other lead character, Amy, played by Kaitlyn Dever, is a more soft-spoken, yet overachieving character as well. She has been out of the closet regarding her sexuality for a few years to this point, but still is inexperienced when it comes to relationships and girls in general. She develops a small crush on a girl named Ryan, and with a push from Molly, decides to start talking to her. I'm not going to go too far into the plot, just in case you wanted to check out the movie! But there's this sense of figuring herself out by the end of this film.
A part of the film that I loved as well as made me slightly anxious, was the *attempted* sex scene between Amy and Hope, played by Diana Silvers. Oh, I should also mention that Diana Silvers is my newest girl crush. I spent the greater part of a night stalking her socials, and I've fallen in a deep, deep, girl crush on the girl. She's gorgeous, and so cute and funny! I highly recommend checking her out if you haven't already! Any ways, back to the scene! There had been some tension building between Hope and Amy, and it leads to them in a hot exchange. What I loved about this scene is that it felt genuine. Like the girls are making out, and get awkward when it comes to taking clothes off. Like it didn't skip over the awkwardness of Amy's first time, and it even ends in a cringe-worthy moment. But I loved that this film didn't shy away from that feeling. It embraced the awkwardness, because it's a high school film. It would be unrealistic if it didn't touch on the awkward!
Another stand out star of this film is Billie Lourd. She absolutely killed her part in this film. She wasn't a character that at first glance you take seriously, but as the film progresses, as an audience member, you grow this affinity for how over the top and lavish she is. She is an outrageous character, without ever feeling unrealistic (other than the fact that she's literally everywhere!). She felt like someone I would've known in high school. In fact, every character felt like someone I went to school with. It captures that age of being so sure of yourself, yet totally insecure in yourself, so well. If anything is to be taken away from this film, I hope other people take away that feeling of innocence. All of these characters are about to embark on the next phase of their lives, so as an audience member, you feel this sense of pride by the end of the movie for all the characters.
This movie had a lot of heart, and that's what I really enjoyed about it. On the surface level, it feels like a high school film that is just about having fun and being ridiculous. But once you peel the layers of this film, you'll realize that it's about a lot more than just having one last hurrah. It's a film about friendships, and being misunderstood, and giving yourself permission to be and do what you want. Because ultimately, our choices are on us, so the only ones who can hold us back is us. And I loved seeing these characters let loose and embrace all their quirks throughout the film. I'm so glad this film was made, and I hope I see more like them in theaters.
