Writer and director Kelly Fremon Craig presents her debut feature The Edge of Seventeen (click here to see the movie trailer), which achieves something rather impressive – and unique. For this high-school set drama abides affectionately by the tropes of the genre at hand, and yet subverts expectations, profoundly surprising the viewer every step of the way, all while following a tried, tested and triumphant formula.
Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) has always felt like something of an outsider. Ever since she was a young girl she was never able to compete with her old brother Darian’s (Blake Jenner) popularity. The one person she always felt she could confide in is her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), but when she starts to date her brother, Nadine is left without anyone, and so starts to question her very existence. The self-loathing student takes it up with her beleaguered teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson), as she attempts to navigate her way around a challenging relationship with her mother (Kyra Sedgwick) and the fledging romance with classmate Erwin (Hayden Szeto).
Hailee Steinfeld Exclusive Interview
To have a quirky, “misunderstood” protagonist who feels real is an accomplishment in itself, to avoid cliché in one of the most cliched of character creations. Often we struggle to adhere to a lead role’s lack of popularity, such as Emma Stone in Easy A (yeah, right!) but Nadine is a little different, eccentric, a little off-centre, but always relatable, and that’s such a hard balance to get right. We see the world from her perspective too, where she is always the victim, a troubled soul who nobody truly understands – and yet you always take the other person’s side. When she’s mad at her mum, you’re team mum. When she gets angry at Krista and Darian, you side with them too – and yet never once question your investment in the lead role. You’re always able to appreciate she’s in the wrong, but you find empathy for her regardless – which, again, is so difficult to get right.
It’s Nadine’s imperfections and flaws which set this production apart, as she continuously makes the wrong choices, annoying you, frustrating you, and yet you remain on her side throughout, as her idealistic, naïve view on the world is endearing, and it’s a credit not only to Craig, but also to Steinfeld that this has been made possible. The young actress, turning in her best performance since bursting on to the scene in True Grit, is matched only by Harrelson, who you just wish could’ve been your own teacher at school. The supporting cast are all impressive, and Jenner can now boast having starred in the two best teen movies of the year following Everybody Wants Some!!. He must have a pretty good agent.
But for all of the humour and the irreverence, as we laugh at our stubborn lead role, when The Edge of Seventeen vies for poignancy, it earns it, as the profound sequences towards the end are moving and compelling. For a film to be this tongue-in-cheek and yet still have that degree of emotional investment from the viewer has all the markings of a director to keep a very, very close eye on.
