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RELEASED:
2016
DIRECTOR(s):
Kelly Fremon Craig
PERSONAL RATING:
●●●●● |
Seventeen-year-old Nadine
Franklin has tempestuous relationships with her popular older brother
Darian and her image-conscious mother Mona but was close to her father
Tom, who died of a heart attack when Nadine was thirteen, leaving her best
friend Krista the only person keeping her buoyed.
Mona travels to the Oregon Coast to meet a boyfriend, and in her absence,
Nadine and Krista get extremely drunk. Darian throws a pool party at the
house, and after throwing up, Nadine falls asleep while Krista talks to
Darian. The next morning, Nadine finds Krista with Darian in bed,
straining their friendship. The next day at school, Krista insists Nadine
join her at a house party to which Darian has invited her. Upon arrival,
Darian introduces Krista to other students, leaving Nadine on her own.
After failed attempts at mingling, Nadine sits outside with another
partygoer, who remarks how inferior Nadine seems compared to her brother,
and Nadine leaves the party.
Nadine turns to her classmate Erwin Kim, who has a crush on her, though
she is attracted to older student Nick Mossman and makes inept attempts to
attract him. She invites Erwin to an amusement park, but she rejects his
attempt to kiss her. At the end of the night, Nadine tells him he is a
great guy and they become friends.
At school, Krista confronts Nadine for ignoring her, and Nadine says
Darian does not care about Krista and will soon drop her. Krista retorts
that Darian has asked her to be his girlfriend and to prom, which is
months away. Insecure and desperate, Nadine says Krista must choose
between her or Darian. When she refuses to do so, Nadine ends their
friendship.
For support at school, Nadine turns to world-weary teacher Mr. Bruner, who
says she is his favourite student to cheer her up. Nadine goes swimming in
Erwin's pool and finds his house is luxurious and his family is wealthy.
She learns Erwin is a talented animation filmmaker and accepts his
invitation to their school's short-film festival.
Mona has been giving Nadine a ride to school since her falling out with
Krista. One day, Nadine refuses to get out of the car when she sees Krista
arriving at school at the same time, which leads to Mona bringing Nadine
to work with her. There, they argue about her father, and Nadine steals
Mona's car. She drives to a playground, writes a sexually explicit text to
Nick, and accidentally sends it.
Nadine drives to school and flippantly tells Mr. Bruner she is going to
kill herself, and he tries to reassure her. Nick replies asking her to
hang out. Mona calls Darian while he is with Krista and some friends,
telling him that Nadine is missing. Darian and Krista leave to find her.
Nick, having taken Nadine's explicit text seriously, attempts to have sex
with her in his car. Rejecting him, Nadine runs away and calls Mr. Bruner,
who takes her back to his house where they wait for Darian to arrive.
Nadine meets Mr. Bruner's wife and child there. Darian tells Nadine he has
suffered from the pressures of taking their father's place, saying he
feels trapped and did not apply to distant colleges because their mother
is so dependent on him. The only person who makes him happy is Krista, but
he dislikes that it destroys Nadine for him to be with Krista. Darian then
asks Mr. Bruner to give Nadine a ride home. Back at their house, Nadine
confesses her own feelings of self-hatred and envy to Darian. They hug,
ending their feud.
As Nadine leaves for the film festival in the morning, she and Krista
reconcile and agree to catch up later. Realizing that Mona is still
worried she has run away, Nadine texts her that she is safe. Mona decides
to trust her word. Erwin's animated film is about an alien boy who falls
in love with a girl at high school but is rejected. The girl resembles
Nadine and wears sneakers similar to hers. After the film, Nadine hands
Erwin flowers she picked for him and apologizes for taking so long to
accept his affection. He jokes that the film is not about her. Erwin is
congratulated by his colleagues and introduces Nadine, who greets them
with a smile. |
