When faced with a movie that plagiarizes so transparently from such high profile and recent films of the same genre, all I can do is shrug. This film is a cut 'n paste of the biggest teen dramas from the last ten to fifteen years and seems to pride itself on that. You look at the poster and it's right there comparing itself to JUNO and DONNIE DARKO. Throw in a little THE VIRGIN SUICIDES and you've got all the ingredients, the makers of this film have nothing of their own to offer. It seems they just want to be applauded based on their taste in who they sample.
On a technical level, the film is fine. The acting is decent, it's well shot and well scored. The plot mechanics are okay in that things are set up and developed and all resolved by the film's end. I was never bored or angry at the film. It's just that when I can spot the origins of every plot element and stylistic device as being ripped from a small pool of other films that are so well-known and so recent, I can't help but feel that I am watching a film with nothing to say and not even its voice in which to say it.
Judged on its own, it's an okay movie. Nothing really rings true, but it also never really achieves any ambitious level of absurdity either. It feels like a cartoon trying to be deep or a thoughtful film trying too hard to make itself cute and quarky. Either way, huge portions of the film end up feeling insincere. The film takes on some serious issues and plot lines, but frequently backs down either through dismissive humour or by resolving those plot lines in an overly convenient way.
Watching it, I generally felt as indifferent to the film as the main character seems to feel to the people around her who's hearts are getting broken and who are getting killed by serial killers.
