Booksmart

Olivia Wilde directed a film that treats teenagers like adults—with complex sexualities, moral ambiguities, and existential dread. It is a film about the pressure to be perfect, and the liberation of realizing that perfection is a cage. As Molly says in her impromptu graduation speech on the pier: "High school is supposed to be the best time of your life. And if you didn’t love it… congratulations, the best is yet to come."

In a lesser film, they would hook up with their crushes. Here, they simply sit with their peers. The jock hands them a beer. The mean girl hugs them. The bully apologizes. The final shot is of Molly and Amy diving off a boat into the water—not to prove anything, but simply because it feels good. Booksmart is a raunchy comedy about anxiety, a party movie about loneliness, and a coming-of-age story that argues you don’t actually "come of age" in one night. You just survive the night and wake up a little wiser. Booksmart

It is the rare comedy that leaves you not just laughing, but deeply, desperately hopeful. Olivia Wilde directed a film that treats teenagers

This ticking clock is the engine. But unlike Superbad , where the goal was simply to get the girls, Booksmart’s goal is existential: "We need to prove we aren’t boring." Wilde and cinematographer Jason McCormick shoot the film like a panic attack wrapped in a music video. The camera whips, zooms, and pirouettes. When Molly gets high for the first time, the animation shifts into stop-motion dolls and puppetry. When Amy drops LSD, a pizza box transforms into a talking, advice-giving mentor. And if you didn’t love it… congratulations, the