The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)

Drama, Romance

Director: Marielle Heller
Writers: Phoebe Gloeckner, Marielle Heller
Starring: Bel Powley, Willie, Kristen Wiig, Abby Wait

"Some things are best kept a secret."

A teenage erotic coming-of-age drama set in the mid-seventies' San Francisco.

Bel Powley, in a pretty spectacular breakthrough performance, plays Minnie Goetze, a high-schooler and aspiring cartoonist, who, at 15 years old, becomes sexually active after getting in a complex love affair with her mother's (Kritsen Wiig) boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgård). Along the way, she deals with family, friends, and the other usual hallmarks of growing up, but also with the perks that come with living in "free-love" San Francisco: she participates in a threesome, has lesbian sex, plays a hooker, snorts cocaine or drops acid.

Adapted from the 'words and pictures' graphic novel by author and artist Phoebe Gloeckner, the film, that tells the story via cassette tape diary entries and candid voice-overs through the protagonist's eyes, often alternating with animated sequences from the pages of Minnie's diary, is made in a way that never passes judgement on its characters, giving us an honestly messy account of the protagonist's sexual and artistic awakening.

Plot summary from IMDb: A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother's boyfriend.

Awards: 8 wins & 26 nominations.
Runtime: 102 min
R