The Diary of a Teenage Girl

This movie follows a teenage girl's sexual awakening, which involves statutory rape, prostitution, drugs, and other things that weren't a part of my far more vanilla teenagehood. The main character, Minnie, is creative and bright but also has the delusional mind of a teenager and a bit more of the "I'll try anything once" attitude that might be good for her.

The movie itself doesn't seem to judge anyone. Not the mother who does coke with her daughter or the boyfriend she seduces or Minnie herself. The life they lead seems appropriate for an appearance on the Jerry Springer Show, yet she never portrays them as mouth-breathing idiots but more as just reasonably decent people with dubious judgment. It's surprising, particularly at a time when the movie idea of the girl and the older man has moved from romantic to creepy, to see this straightforward portrayal.

It's also cleverly filmed and includes some nice animated sequences. I'd definitely recommend it.

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl" is a film that shouldn't be as uncommon as it is for American cinema. It's a seriously contemplative and revealing drama about a young woman lost and confused about her sexual identity upon committing one of society's most serious taboos and realizing that she liked it and might want to try it again. And again. And enough times to keep an audio diary of her thoughts and experiences about said act.

I'll catch you up; set in 1970's San Francisco, Minnie (Bel Powley), a fifteen-year-old girl and aspiring cartoonist, experiences her sexual awakening after losing her virginity to her mother's sorta-boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgård). Minnie considers herself overweight and undesirable in every sense, and is largely neglected by her Bohemian mother Charlotte (Kristen Wiig), who is usually too busy smoking weed or doing drugs with strangers to even notice her daughter, so this awakening comes as an immense shock to Minnie and her person.

Minnie begins to crave more sex and attention from Monroe, going as far as to make intimate sex with him a regular thing, in addition to craving sex from strangers and other boys her age, all under her mother's nose. This sex drive, however, is deeper than horniness, but a cry by Minnie for companionship, desire, and, most of all, love. Minnie wants to be the apple of someone's eye, so much so that when she leaves, the person feels like they'll die without her company and security.

I've long had the same hunger Minnie has had, though I've been fortunate, as a male, to see roughly two or three coming of age films that accurately reflect my emotions, my desires, and my sexual awakening. Young girls and stories of their sexual awakening have been cruelly shortchanged in American film and "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" takes note of that just by existing. Consider scenes when Monroe and Minnie have sex, makeout with one another, or Minnie describes past sexual advances to her best friend. If these scenes made you at all uncomfortable, uneasy, or awkward (like they did me), then writer and directress Marielle Heller has effectively proved that fact without even saying it. Now switch the genders of the two main characters, think about the situation over again, and see if you feel that same level of discomfort.

Heller unapologetically details Minnie's desires in a way that, while revealing, is whimsical, thanks to the presence of Minnie's drawings springing to life before her eyes. However, this occasional distraction is offset by Heller's honest depiction of Minnie and, most importantly, the rawer scenes of the film, like when we see Minnie stand naked before a mirror as she examines her body and voices her desire to be loved and cherished. It's something I'm sure most young girls have done at least a few times in their life; standing before a mirror entirely exposed and hoping someone will love you for all of you rather than just parts of you. It's the basic level of human feeling, and Minnie has discovered it and craves it much quicker than any of her friends have.

Bel Powley is a force on-screen here, positioning herself not as a fabled caricature but an empowering everygirl that transcends beyond the confines of a typical teenage girl into somebody many can relate to. It also helps that Powley, herself, is such a great screen presence, confident even when her character is insecure, and encapsulated in a bubble that teeters between innocence and the loss of innocence.

"The Diary of a Teenage Girl" could easily be paired with "Turn Me On, Goddammit!," a Norwegian coming of age drama about a girl relatively the same age as Minnie, who becomes entranced with masturbation and sexual pleasure so much so that it takes over her life. Truly impacting and significant coming of age stories for young girls are depressingly few and far between and here is a film that boldly asserts itself by silently calling audiences out on its double standards for young women, focusing on a relatable protagonist throughout the film, giving us artful direction and attractive aesthetics not as a means to sugarcoat but to humanize, and concluding the picture with an ending that, while unfortunately fairly radical for American cinema, hits as hard as some of the best endings of films this year.

"I had sex today. Holy sh--!" Minnie (Bel Powley)

If you have a daughter around 15, may I suggest you see The Prophet, a wispy cartoon about a philosopher and his devoted town, because Diary of a Teen Age Girl will set you off balance for days. Oh, although it has cartoons, they include flaccid and erect penises. Still in all, it can be an amusing insight into a teen's secret life, and by extension, all teens'.

Minnie, a San-Francisco teen having an affair with her mom's (Kristen Wiig) vacuous35-year old lover, Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard), is sexually alert and ready. Although her affair causes her some trauma as she faces the emotional consequences, she is less affected by the other casual liaisons of all kinds in her relentless search to emulate the adults in her life but only to find the search as hollow as she sees it in them.

Her idol is cartoonist Aline Kominsky, whose work is similar to Minnie's. The insertion of graphic, amusing cartoons helps relieve the depressing descent of Minnie into rampant sex with diminishing returns. As a true coming-of-age film, Diary of a teen age Girl is more about the girl morphing into a woman (she has the body but not the sensibility) through some dark but sometimes humorous encounters.

As a father of five daughters, I shuddered at some of the all-to-real encounters, but, hey, the film is about the '70's in San Francisco when anything goes. If you strip away the liberal life style, the issues for a teen remain universal: How much can you rely on your parents for guidance? Do adults exploit children? Is same sex sex a kick? Do drugs help? Another question might be asked: Why does Monroe not go to jail for statuary rape? Answer: This film is a fantasy of a teen's first sex, and the rude outside world need not apply to be a part. It's all a cartoon dream and humorous if you take it the right way.

Being a grumpy old guy, I'm not at all the target audience for this film, so please bear that in mind when I tell you that I found this a fairly tedious coming-of-age movie. I admired aspects of it - in particular the performances of Bel Powley and Alexander Skarsgård - but I wasn't able to maintain my interest in the story.

The biggest obstacle was, I think, that Minnie, the eponymous teenage girl, was not the only adolescent around. All the adults in her life were at various stages of arrested development. This is possibly the point both of the movie and of the novel it is based on: how can a child grow up when all her role-models are children themselves? It's an interesting question, but when transmitted as drama the audience finds itself stuck in high school for the duration.

An honest, unfiltered & nonjudgmental coming of age drama about a young woman's sexual endeavours, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a nicely crafted, sensibly narrated & wonderfully performed cinema that's highly bohemian in nature, emanates a psychedelic vibe from start to finish & is further uplifted by its well-put together cast.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the story of The Diary of a Teenager is set in San Francisco during the 1970s and concerns Minnie, a 15-year old aspiring cartoonist who in the wake of her sexuality begins a relationship with her mother's boyfriend. However, her longing for love & acceptance soon sets her on a path to much bolder adventures.

Written & directed by Marielle Heller in what is her filmmaking debut, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is oddly stylish, surreal & provocative in depicting the sexual & artistic awakening of its protagonist and captures the highs & lows of adolescent life with utmost sincerity. Heller's direction is as good as her screenplay, and it's refreshing to see the story being told from a girl's perspective.

Production design team does a good job in replicating the 1970s setting, Cinematography makes splendid use of its camera & bright colour tones to further enhance its images, and Editing is finely carried out while the music fits its scene. Coming to the performances, Bel Powley delivers a terrific performance and is brilliantly supported by Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig & others.

On an overall scale, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a bold example of its genre that attempts to capture the turmoil of teenage years without sugarcoating any of it, is capable of leaving a few viewers squirming on their seats with its explicit nature, and thanks to its playful tone & sensible handling of its characters, is a welcome entry in the coming-of-age filmmaking landscape. Definitely worth a shot.