Smart Girls Take a Stand in Booksmart

by Kathia Woods

High School is a smorgasbord of different personalities all just trying to navigate through this cesspool called popularity. You have your Jocks, your burners, and Booksmarts.

Olivia Wilde's directorial debut introduces us to Amy and Molly. Best friends and uber achievers. Their whole focus is academic excellence.

One is going to Yale and the other to Colombia in the fall. The movie takes us to the last days of Senior Year. Each was eagerly waiting for school to end so that they can embark on their precisely planned real lives.

Amy and Molly are generation z version of Square Pegs' Amy and Lauren. They don't need anyone else because they have each other. Who cares if the rest of their classmates considers them weird. They are focused and willing to sacrifice fun in exchange for a guaranteed future.

This plan seemed to be working until they realize that some of their intellectually challenged classmates managed to secure themselves spots in some of the countries best colleges as well as companies.

Could one possibly have fun and still be successful. That's the million dollar question the girls try to solve before they say bye to High School.

Booksmart is fun a ride. We are finally getting more movies centered on young women and some of the challenges they face. Bo Burnham gave us the outstanding Eight Grade, and Olivia is giving us Booksmart.

The two leads outstandingly portrayed by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever are the anchors of this delightful comedy. I loved how they had each other's backs. They encouraged and supported each other hence being able to sustain the fright that high school can be at times.

Dever as Amy is vulnerable but steady from her dealing with her sexuality to her interesting choice of wardrobe. Feldstein as the control freak Molly equally holds her own. She’s pushy, sarcastic and knows that in spite of what others may think they can't tinker with her GPA.

It's crucial for us to recognize that this is a movie about Generation Z, not Millennials. This generation had the internet, social media and cell phones since birth. They are all about social standing and likes.

They interact more over social outlets than personal contact. In spite of all these technological advances, they still go through the typical growing pains. Boy Crushes on popular boys, scared to be themselves, finding your group that secures your lunchtime won't be lonely and so forth. All of those themes are still apparent in this film.

One of my favorite characters in Booksmart was Jared played by Skyler Gisondo. He's rich, but he can't buy his way into any click. He tries to use hip-hop culture to elevate his cool status, but it just comes across as odd. You know the guy that wears Gucci, Prada and Yeezy's all at the same time however like most teenagers he's just trying to fit in no matter how bizarre.

Olivia Wilde picked a great script to make her directorial debut. She poured a lot of love into this movie, and it shows. Molly and Amy are about to become young legends, and I can see this movie becoming part of the lexicon of Generation Z. I highly recommend you make this movie a mother and daughter movie date night. It just makes you feel good and reminds you that they are just teenagers struggling to get through life, but the journey is always made more comfortable with a ride or die chick by your side.

Diversity: The fact two girls were the lead and this was directed by a woman is a win win.

Scale: I give this movies an eight because its important to show young people that everyone struggles in high school.