Netflix is full of teen coming-of-age comedies and dramas, including many of the streaming service’s most popular original movies. But there’s only a little time left to watch my favorite teen comedy of the past decade, an underrated movie that gets more entertaining each time I see it.
Writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig’s debut feature “The Edge of Seventeen” was only a minor box-office success, but it holds up wonderfully, with one of Hailee Steinfeld’s best performances. Anyone of any age who enjoys teen movies should check it out before it leaves Netflix at the end of this month.
Teens are often whiny and self-centered, but there’s a tendency in mainstream teen movies to smooth out their flaws and make them more mature and likable. That’s decidedly not the case for high school junior Nadine Franklin (Steinfeld), who begins the movie by making a grand (and disingenuous) pronouncement about her own impending suicide to her jaded, skeptical teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson). Mr. Bruner responds with his own proclamation that he’s also going to kill himself, to avoid Nadine constantly bothering him.
That cheerfully morbid sense of humor defines both Nadine and the movie itself, which is ultimately sensitive and wholesome despite its heroine’s penchant for melodrama. Nadine’s problems aren’t particularly unique, but in typical teenage fashion, she regards every setback as proof that the world is out to get her.
After the opening scene, “The Edge of Seventeen” flashes back to Nadine’s childhood, defined by her own outcast status in contrast to her seemingly perfect older brother Darian (Blake Jenner).
‘The Edge of Seventeen’ puts a fresh spin on familiar teen movie themes
The inciting incident for this particular crisis in Nadine’s life is her horrified discovery that her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) has slept with Darian, something that Nadine regards as an unforgivable betrayal. She’s so thoroughly convinced herself that Darian is evil that she can’t accept the idea that Krista might genuinely like him, or that Darian might have real feelings for Krista — or any feelings at all.
The root of Nadine’s trauma is the sudden death of her father four years earlier, which Nadine witnessed when he had a heart attack while in the car with her. Craig treats that trauma with humor, too, as Nadine cynically attempts to use it to get out of doing homework, while Mr. Bruner matches her cynicism by noting that he places a one-year limit on grief as a valid excuse for missing schoolwork. There’s real emotion behind those jokes, though, in Nadine’s inability to truly confront her loss, and in Mr. Bruner’s efforts to reach her via the only kind of communication she understands.
In addition to the inconsiderate, dismissive way she treats Darian and Krista, Nadine is similarly rude to Erwin Kim (Hayden Szeto), the awkward, artistic classmate who has an obvious crush on her. Nadine turns to Erwin for support when she messes up, but she focuses her romantic energies on an obvious dirtbag who was recently in juvenile detention and seems barely able to put a sentence together.
The oblivious teenage girl who picks the bad boy over the good guy is another well-worn teen movie element, but Craig and Steinfeld treat it with brutal honesty and sardonic humor, making Nadine’s terrible choices feel genuine and heartbreaking.
Nadine is the worst, which makes her the best
As painful — and painfully funny — as it can be to watch Nadine ruin her life, what makes “The Edge of Seventeen” so affecting is how relatable Nadine is, and her moments of self-awareness are savage and cutting. “I had the worst thought,” she declares while drunk. “I’ve gotta spend the rest of my life with myself.” Anyone who deals with depression or anxiety or just remembers being a teenager can identify with that dark impulse and can root for Nadine to find her way out of it.
Nadine’s journey toward being a slightly better person is amusing and heartfelt, and one of the best things about “The Edge of Seventeen” is the way it recognizes the valid perspectives of everyone else in Nadine’s life, from Darian and Krista to Mr. Bruner and Nadine’s exasperated mom (Kyra Sedgwick). They’re all dealing with their own challenges, and part of maturing is learning to acknowledge that other people have problems, too.
“The Edge of Seventeen” may seem nihilistic at times, but in its own way it’s just as warm as Craig’s equally brilliant second film, the Judy Blume adaptation “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” “Just don’t be so weird,” Nadine admonishes herself in the mirror while hiding out in the bathroom during a party. Nadine is really only as weird as every other teenager has ever imagined themselves to be, though, which makes her perfectly suited to lead a unique but timeless teen movie.
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