Jodi, Christine, Jack, and I loved this story of a 15 year old in 1976 San Francisco who becomes obsessed with sex after losing her virginity to a 35 year old. Perfectly acted, beautifully shot, wonderfully cinematic with cool animated bits, and impeccably written and directed by Marielle Heller in her debut, adapted from Phoebe Gloeckner's graphic novel of the same name. Jodi and Christine, both mothers of little girls, were slightly horrified by the plot but entranced nonetheless.
Bel Powley (not her first rodeo but she's new to me) is 23 and Jack and I were surprised to learn on Jimmy Fallon's show that she is British, as her American accent is flawless. Not to mention her wide-eyed wonder of the teen years. As the rapist, er, love interest, Alexander Skarsgård (last blogged in Disconnect, coincidentally another scary movie for sane parents) is terrific, and Kristen Wiig (most recently in The Skeleton Twins) is brilliant as the mom.
Wonderful location shots of the city by the bay are thanks to Brandon Trost who has won, so far, the Cinematography Award at Sundance for this movie. And there are a bunch of great 70s tunes on the soundtrack, released today, including two by the composer Nate Heller (his debut as well) but inexplicably not the one in the trailer, even though the composer sings it himself in the movie.
Critics at Rotten Tomatoes are averaging 94% and audiences 82, reflecting the festival awards and nominations accruing in the beginning of the movie's release. We highly recommend this one.
