Edge of Amazing

Delivering what I would consider the best performance of her still young career, Hailee Steinfeld, or should I say Nadine, acted her life away in The Edge of Seventeen. This coming of age film had jabs that felt similar to movies like Pretty in Pink or The Breakfast Club, but also brought up many darker situations, making the movie much more life like. This portion of my review will be spoiler free, but I will have a more spoiler filled section further down.

While Steinfeld was the lead actress of the film, her supporting cast lineup was anything but lacking talent. From her mother, played by the ever so talented Kyra Sedgwick, to her brother played by ex Glee star Blake Jenner and even to her teacher played by Woody Harrelson, this cast was set up for success. While this star studded cast sold this movie, my favorite character had to be the romantic nerd, Erwin, played by, hopefully, up and coming actor, Hayden Szeto. Never have I seen a more lovable nerd portrayed this well on the big screen.

SPOILER ALERT:

So a brief run through of the movie. We first see a young, yet brutally awkward child named Nadine finally find a friend, Krista played by Haley Lu Richardson, who understood her for who she was. This was then sent spiraling when her father, the only family member who got her, tragically passed away in front of her. Flash forward to the present, where she has grown up with an older brother who appears to have everything and she has been parented by an absentee selfish mother, both of which lead to her being very insecure. With these insecurities, Nadine leaned too much on her best friend Krista. Long story short, best friend Krista hooks up and falls for the older brother than Nadine has always been bitter towards, breaking up the lone friendship Nadine had.

Friendless, Nadine then turns to two unlikely people for support, Erwin the awkward nerdy boy who is crushing on her and Mr. Bruner her teacher who she has a fairly unprofessional, yet friendly relationship with. Once a illicit FB message is sent, things go from bad to worse for Nadine. She further isolates herself from her family and latches on to a somewhat sketchy crush played by Alexander Calvert. When all he wants is sex and the turmoil between her brother and her hits a peak, Nadine finally realizes that she herself has been wrong with how she has handled things for a while.

With her issues somewhat fixed, a new bond between herself and her brother, friendship on the mend with Krista, and a new found relationship with Erwin, we finally see Nadine grow into the person she could have always been.

Overall, Erwin (Szeto), was the out of left field star of this movie, I was OBSESSED with him! This film was a great feel good movie, which takes dark real life situations and shows how they bend and affect the growth of a young person. It was totally a needed escaped from yesterday’s election! I 100% recommend seeing it and would give it a 9 out of 10 stars! Thanks STX for the chance to see this early!

movie stills credit of STX Movies