“There are two types of people in this world. The kind that naturally excel at life, and the people that wish those people would get blown up in an explosion.”

You are only young once…at least numerically. If you’re one of the lucky ones, youth stays within you forever. This is a film that fifty years from now will be viewed as a classic; a timeless exploration of what it means to be in high school. Nadine, played by Hailee Steinfeld is an angsty junior in high school to say the least. She is quirky, an individual, spontaneous and perhaps one of the most real characters portrayed in a movie. It’s just the truth. That is how high school is. Growing up is not easy; but it is a magical time where everything is being shifted and sifted and everyone is trying to see where they fit in with and beyond their family and school. Woody Harrelson is phenomenal as the irreverent, but deeply carying teacher who in many ways acts as Steinfelds high school guide; a ear to listen and a mouth to keep her in check and remind her that indeed, she is not the center of the universe (like many of us think at that age). We watch a family come and fall apart, and then come together because guess what, life happens. And sometimes when life happens, it straight sucks. But the flip side is that sometimes, it is straight magic. When you meet someone who changes the way you see yourself and the world and when you realize for a moment, who you are or just who you could become.

I hope you all see this film and love it as much as I do.

Because, let’s face it, we are all pretty much awkward humans that are all just trying to figure it out day by day.

-Kaila

This man in a straight genius. Every film he is in he kills it.

(My face pretty much everday of high school…just kidding. I loved high school. But this is an accurate depiction of what it feels like a lot of the time…sometimes life feels like that).