Olivia Wilde's directorial debut follows two ultra-vigilant high-schoolers who let loose on graduation night in the pursuit of making up for lost time. Cue awkward parents, sexual awakenings, drunken parties, friendship tension and life-altering epiphanies. The coming-of-age tale has been around as long as cinema itself whilst the one-final-night-before-college storytelling device has become a go-to in the comedy genre, so it's the characters and their relationships that can deliver something fresh. And this is Olivia's Wilde Card: in lead pair Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, as besties Molly and Amy, she has found a charming, hilarious and charismatic pair that the audience can warm to immediately, despite and perhaps even because of, their flaws. As soon as Amy and Molly start dancing on the front lawn without a care in the world in the pre-opening credits sequence, you know that the next 90 minutes with them is going to be a hoot. Their sheer likability pulls you through the movie even when supporting players fail to make an impression and the plot falls back on cliché, both of which become more prevalent in a final act that wraps everything up a little too neatly. It doesn't break through convention or proffer a message on friendship we don't already know, but that doesn't matter, Booksmart is an affecting and joyous yarn propelled by a compelling central duo.
Review of Booksmart
