It’s not often these days that you find yourself legitimately laughing out loud at the movies, but Booksmart is a welcome addition to the big screen, and left me in stitches! Booksmart is the directorial debut from Olivia Wilde, stepping behind the camera after years in front of it.
The movie revolves around Amy and Molly, played by Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein, best friends and academic overachievers in the final days of school. Molly is class president and a straight A student with her eyes set on a spot at Yale, and a soft spot for her vice president Nick. Amy is much the same, but is in love with Ryan, the cool rebel girl of the school.
But the academic overachieving pair aren’t particularly liked by their peers due to their superiority complex which becomes apparent when Molly overhears a conversation about her while in the unisex bathroom. Together they decide to throw caution to the wind and head out to the big graduation party that everyone is attending. Only issue is, they don’t actually know whose house it is at and the journey of finding their way there ends up being hilarious. The girls may be booksmart, but they sure aren’t street smart.
The chemistry between Kaitlyn and Beanie is simply outstanding. The pair really do look like they have been friends for years, just like their characters Amy and Molly in the movie. The two actresses even lived together before the film to get to know each other and became real best friends. The friendship that Dever and Feldstein both have is evident and really shows on-screen. Skyler Gisondo absolutely nailed his role as the overconfident, over the top rich kid Jared, Mason Gooding was also great in his role of Nick, school vice president and heart throb. I feel that I also need to mention Molly Gordon, who plays ‘Triple A’, the school mean girl, and does it so well, but also shows depth towards the end of the film when her nicer side shines through.
The soundtrack for the film is absolutely spot on and is used to emphasise and add to Amy and Molly’s journey. All the tracks have purpose and suit the scenes so well; from the girls having an early morning dance session on the way to school, to the more tender moments between Amy and Ryan. The soundtrack is almost a character of its own.
Olivia Wilde has done a fantastic job of directing this coming of age comedy. I can’t wait to see what she works on next as she fits into the director role super well. I also love that Booksmart is a female led film and has a vast female cast, as well as touching on many modern issues such as; the struggles of same sex relationships in high school, self-confidence and so much more. This film is also full of so many twists and turns, with lots of highs and a few lows, Booksmart is full of surprises which will keep you guessing as to what happens next!
Seriously, get out there and see this film. As one of the best films of the year, Booksmart is refreshing, fun, exciting, entertaining, unpredictable, clever, heartwarming, hilarious and an absolute blast! I cannot wait to see where the cast go in the future, but I’m sure it will be bright and full of laughs no matter what their destination.
Booksmart is showing in cinemas now.