My Review of "The Edge of Seventeen"

The Edge of Seventeen is a dramatic comedy that came out in 2016. It's chaotic but at the same time very grounded. There is an air of authenticity that comes from this movie that infatuated me. The characters are flawed yet I still loved them. This could very well be one of the best coming of age movies I've seen in a while.

The movie starts off with our main character Nadine coming to her favorite teacher to console her. You'd think she was being overly dramatic so they decide to give us her back story. Nadine is very much of a loner. She doesn't have many friends. In fact, she's only got one, Krista. The two have grown up together and have had each other's backs for all their lives.

Nadine also has a brother, Darian. He's pretty much the polar opposite to Nadine. Darian is popular and doing very well for himself. Nadine is often jealous of the fact that her mother seems to favor her brother over her. In fact, she thinks everyone is out to get her except for her father.

That's up until her father passes away suddenly 5 years ago. Nadine has never fully recovered from his passing. In a way, you can kind of see how she attempts to see her favorite teacher as somewhat of a father figure.

Things seemed a little bit tolerable for her up until one fateful night when Nadine and Krista are having fun at the house while her mom was away. Darian comes back with his friends. Nadine gets herself drunk and when she wakes up she finds out that Darian and Krista hooked up that night.

Obviously upset, Nadine's whole world seems to crashing after she discovers this. Here's a when she does a bit of self damage as she treats everyone horribly.

As the audience, we see all of the great things around her that she doesn't see. We also see how she's causing herself way more unnecessary harm than she needs to. This is quite relatable because as a teenager, you don't really know how to navigate these things. As a teenager you can't really see past your own problems. All of the actions, although some absurd, are quite grounded and relatable. I could totally see real people doing all of the things in this movie.

A lot of the comedy in this movie come from how absurd but plausible some of the scenes are. We can see ourselves in these characters and it feels so real. This air of authenticity makes me feel like I'm a fly on the wall watching the drama unfold.

Due to the great acting and sharp witted dialogue I felt like I wanted to be a part of this environment. It's completely engaging and fascinating at the same time. They kept me glued to the screen to see what happens next. All of the characters act realistic so they're not always nice to each other. In fact, they're often very mean to each other. The insults are quite fun. Each of the characters kind of do these unintentional backhanded compliments that are really fun to watch unfold.

As a movie based on their teen years, there are also a lot of awkward scenes. They don't shy away from very awkward moments. These characters often walk into these moments as well so you can't totally feel sorry for them. It sometimes makes you feel like you're a teenager with them because they give you secondhand embarrassment while watching them.

Overall, this was a really entertaining movie. Although there is no action in the movie, this movie will keep you glued to your seat. I am on the lookout for more movies like this because I thought it was great. The pacing was on point as utilized each still moment to the maximum while not making it feel drawn out or boring. I have to give this movie an 8 out of 10.