If one director has come the closest to creating a modern-day John Hughes vibe, it’s Olivia Wilde. Her feature directorial debut, Booksmart, is built upon the energy of an electrical transformer detonating in our hands as we follow Beanie Feldstein’s Molly and Kaitlyn Dever’s Amy.
Just as in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Pretty in Pink, Molly and Amy’s relationship shines with a ferocity and complexity akin to Ferris and Cameron or Andie and Duckie; in fact, Feldstein and Dever complement each other so perfectly that one could watch them for hours without ever becoming bored.
However, like Hughes’ best films, Booksmart’s brilliance is also due to a superb ensemble cast: Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Billie Lourd, Skyler Gisondo, and Molly Gordon, to name but a few. Each cast member has room to breathe in Halpen, Haskins and Fogel’s delightful screenplay. In this troupe of fantastic talent, Billie Lourd particularly stands out for me despite her limited screen time; after all, everyone has known a Gigi in the past, right? You know, the kid alienated by others for being too weird when they’re really the coolest person in school.
Part of Booksmart’s enduring brilliance is its breakneck pace – kinetic camerawork, surprisingly chaotic set pieces, and non-stop hilarity and hijinks. Booksmart only pauses to catch its breath at key points, just like the young people at its heart. But it is within the breath of fresh air it brings to the classic coming-of-age love story that Booksmart finds its voice. The love story at its heart is one of two friends who are more like sisters, with Amy’s queerness placed front and centre. The story never falls victim to the typical coming-of-age clichés but writhes with themes of difference, gender equality, sexuality, belonging, escape and sisterly love.
Resisting a range of coming-of-age stereotypes, Booksmart is wrapped in a modern reflection of youth subculture, as Amy and Molly free themselves from the academic ties that constrain them. Booksmart reflects an eternal truth of school life: the classroom and corridors are a hive of segregation based on preconceived and rarely challenged stereotypes; after all, how many of us missed out on amazing friendships and memories because our prejudices and assumptions got in the way?
John Hughes was a master of subculture exploration both within and outside school. But Booksmart continues this discussion with a thoroughly modern eye for detail. It challenges the school system’s ever-changing yet eternal social fabric by asking us to communicate and embrace difference, challenging a range of perceptions and stereotypes that ultimately mean less as we enter adult life.
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