The Edge of Seventeen

The Edge of Seventeen
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kelly Fremon Craig
Produced by	James L. Brooks Richard Sakai Julie Ansell Kelly Fremon Craig
Written by	Kelly Fremon Craig
Starring	Hailee Steinfeld Woody Harrelson Kyra Sedgwick
Music by	Atli Örvarsson
Cinematography	Doug Emmett
Edited by	Tracey Wadmore-Smith
Production company	Gracie Films Huayi Brothers Pictures
Distributed by	STX Entertainment
Release dates	September 18, 2016 (2016-09-18) (TIFF) November 18, 2016 (2016-11-18) (United States)
Running time	99 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9 million[1]
Box office	$12.8 million[1]

The Edge of Seventeen (originally titled Besties) is a 2016 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Kelly Fremon Craig. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Hayden Szeto, Blake Jenner, Woody Harrelson, and Kyra Sedgwick. Principal photography began on October 21, 2015 in Vancouver, and ended on December 3, 2015.

The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September 18, 2016^[2] and was theatrically released on November 18, 2016 by STX Entertainment.^[3] It received positive reviews and has grossed $12 million.

Plot

17-year old Nadine Franklin (Hailee Steinfeld) frantically enters Mr. Bruner’s (Woody Harrelson) classroom where she dramatically tells him that she is going to kill herself. The film flashbacks to Nadine as an 7-year old in 2nd grade. Her mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick) favors her older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) whereas Nadine is closer with her father Tom (Eric Keenleyside). At school, Nadine is constantly bullied for being different. One day, she befriends Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) and the two end up becoming best friends. The film jumps forward six years to an awkward looking 13-year old Nadine. One night, Nadine and her father get into a car accident after Tom begins to have a heart attack behind the wheel. The next day, he tragically passes away, which spirals Nadine’s life to four years of misery.

As a 17-year old junior in high school, Nadine continues to suffer from depression and social anxiety and Krista is still her only friend. In contrast, Darian is a handsome, fit, and popular athlete at school. When Mona leaves town for the weekend, Nadine invites Krista over for the night, and the two end up getting drunk. After Krista takes care of Nadine in the bathroom, she ends up talking to Darian. The next morning, Nadine walks into her friend in bed with her brother, which leads to a feud between the three of them that spans for several days.

Back in school, Nadine’s socially awkward classmate Erwin Kim (Hayden Szeto) continues to converse with her more. Later in the day, Krista tells Nadine that she will continue to see Darian and then convinces Nadine to come to a party that he invited her to attend. At the house party, Nadine struggles to interact with others due to her social anxiety. In contrast, Krista is thrilled to finally meet other people. Feeling left out, Nadine calls Erwin to hang out and the two spend the night at an amusement park. She discovers that although he is awkward, he has a great sense of humor and is extremely kind.

However, Nadine continues to crush on Nick (Alexander Calvert), an older mysterious guy who she has only met once at a local pet store. She is constantly stalking his social media account and is only interested in his outside appearances.

At school, Nadine’s relationship with Mr. Bruner as her go-to person for help grows. Mr. Bruner willingly lets her vent all her anger at him but afterwards, as a way to guilt her, reveals that she is his favorite student. He hands her his phone number in case she ever needs to reach out to him. Later, Erwin calls Nadine and the two spend the evening in his gigantic heated swimming pool. It is revealed that although Erwin is super wealthy, he is rather lonely and has been home alone for a few months while his parents are on a business trip in South Korea. Nadine discovers that he is an artist and animation film maker and is invited to attend his film premiere Saturday morning, to which she immediately replies yes.

The next day, in order to avoid Krista after getting into a bad argument with her, Nadine joins her mother at work. The two end up in an argument about Tom, and Mona insults her daughter by saying that her father would be disappointed in the way she turned out. Disgusted by the comment, Nadine steals her mother’s car keys and drives away to a local playground. In the heat of the moment, she writes a sexually explicit text to Nick, but decides against sending it. She accidentally hits "send" and is mortified.

The film returns to the present moment, and Mr. Bruner tries to keep Nadine calm about the message she has sent. Shortly after, she receives a text message from Nick who asks her to hang out in the evening. Nadine rushes back home in excitement and gets dressed up. While Darian is at a nightly event with Krista, he gets a worrying phone call from his mother and returns back home where Mona confesses that she has depended on her son as the father figure of the house ever since Tom passed away. Darian expresses concern for the current situation and leaves to find Nadine. During their date, Nick attempts to have sex with Nadine in his car but is immediately rejected. Realizing that she has left him angry, Nadine begins to kiss him on the face again, but is again groped by him. While Nadine wished to get to know him, Nick had interpreted the text as a request to hook up and was only interested in sex. Embarrassed and heartbroken, Nadine runs away and calls Mr. Bruner, who drives her back to his house. It turns out that Mr. Bruner is happily married with a wife and has a baby boy. Darian arrives to pick up Nadine but ends up confessing to her that although his life seems perfect, he is secretly suffering from outside pressures ever since their father passed away. Back at their home, Nadine confesses to her brother that for the longest time, she has been dealing with self-hatred which is intensified by her jealousy of him. Darian acknowledges her pain, and for the first time, the two finally hug as the feud comes to an end. The next morning, Nadine walks downstairs and is welcomed by a smiling Darian and Krista. Nadine and Krista happily agree to catch up later. Mona wakes up too late and fears that Nadine has run away. Realizing that her mother is worried, Nadine responsibly sends her a text message saying that she is safe. Not knowing what to say, her mother accepts to trust her word and replies with an “okay.”

Erwin’s animated film is a story about a green alien boy who falls in love with an alien girl at high school but is rejected by her. Realizing that the film is a metaphor of their relationship, Nadine apologizes to Erwin for taking so long to accept his love, who jokingly replies that his movie isn’t about her. After the two embrace, Erwin is congratulated by his colleagues. Not wanting her to feel left out, he introduces them to Nadine, and with a smile on her face, she finally opens up to others.

Cast

• Hailee Steinfeld as 17-year-old Nadine Franklin^[4]
• Haley Lu Richardson as Krista, Nadine’s best friend^[5]
• Blake Jenner as Darian, Nadine's older brother^[6]
• Woody Harrelson as Mr. Bruner, a high school teacher^[7]
• Kyra Sedgwick as Mona, Nadine's mother^[7]
• Hayden Szeto as Erwin Kim, Nadine's awkward admirer^[6]
• Eric Keenleyside as Tom
• Laine MacNeil as TCBY Yogurt Girl
• Katie Stuart as Jeannie
• Alexander Calvert as Nick Mossman

Production

Writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig sent a copy of the screenplay to producer James L. Brooks, hoping that Brooks would produce the film. Craig recalled, "I had written a spec version of this film, and had been just an insane fan of Jim’s for years and years. He was the crazy longshot I took in the beginning! And one I never thought would actually work. But I sent him the script and he ended up taking on the project."^[8] The Edge of Seventeen is Craig's directorial debut. She also produced the film.^[6]

On August 4, 2015, Hailee Steinfeld was cast in the film to play the lead role, while Richard Sakai was also attached as a producer of the film.^[4] On September 24, 2015, Woody Harrelson and Kyra Sedgwick joined the film's cast, with Harrelson playing the role of a high school teacher and Sedgwick as the main character's mother.^[7] On October 6, 2015, Blake Jenner was cast in the film as Nadine's older brother, a popular and handsome soccer player who begins dating Nadine's best friend Krista.^[6] Hayden Szeto was cast in the film as Erwin Kim, Nadine's earnest classmate, who fumbles several attempts to win her affection through much of the story. Haley Lu Richardson joined the film to play the role of best friend Krista.^[5]

Principal photography on the film began on October 21, 2015 in Hollywood North, then in Anaheim, California.^[9][10] Filming also took place in the Metro Vancouver area, then at Guildford Park Secondary School and near Guildford Town Centre in Surrey, British Columbia.^[11] Filming wrapped on December 3, 2015.^[12]

Release

The Edge of Seventeen, distributed by STX Entertainment, was originally scheduled to be released on September 30, 2016,^[5] before being moved to November 18.^[13]

Reception

Box office

The Edge of Seventeen opened alongside Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Bleed for This, as well as the wide expansions of Moonlight and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, and was initially expected to gross around $8 million from 1,900 theaters.^[14] However, after grossing just $1.8 million on its first day, weekend projections were lowered to $4–5 million; it ended up grossing $4.8 million, finishing #7 at the box office.^[15]

Critical response

The Edge of Seventeen received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94%, based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Edge of Seventeen's sharp script – and Hailee Steinfeld's outstanding lead performance – make this more than just another coming-of-age dramedy."^[16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.^[18]

IGN reviewer Alex Welch gave the film an 8/10, saying "Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen is a pitch-perfect portrait of youth, and the struggles of learning to accept yourself for who you are. It’ll have you laughing and crying, sometimes in the same scene, and never feels anything other than sincere and authentic."^[19]

Accolades

References

External links

• The Edge of Seventeen at the Internet Movie Database