I'd heard buzz about this movie from various sources, so I decided to check it out on Netflix. It's about an awkward and shy teen girl going to Catholic school that is Hellfire and Brimstone towards sexuality of any sort outside marriage, but girl is going through a sexual awakening, so we have conflict.
Now listen, this has the potential of working out. It's an interesting idea and a challenge that many teens have, especially ones who grew up Christian. But in execution, this is all over the place.
The biggest problem is that the filmmakers seem to be more interested in the anti-Catholic sentiments than telling an effective coming of age story. I get it. There's a fine balance that needs to be had in raising teens in a confusing world and many Christian groups aren't the best with their approach. Which is why this premise isn't one that I have a problem with, even though I am a practicing Christian (although not Catholic). But every Catholic leader in their retreat felt so fake. Every time there was a sermon preached, it felt like the writers and actors hadn't ever been to a Sermon. It was super cheesy and awful. It made Christianity sound like a huge joke.
Now maybe you are laughing at me. The Christian guy doesn't like the anti-Christian movie. But I just want a good movie. And all the Catholic characters felt fake. And all the teenagers in the movie also felt fake and purposely stereotypical. The only real characters were our main teen, played brilliantly by Natalia Dyer from Stranger Things, and the ex-Catholic lady she talks to at the bar who tells her how awful the Catholic church is. The fact that they were the only two sane characters who felt real made me laugh.
So much like all those cheesy Christian movies with horrible acting and predictable storylines (I'm looking at you, PureFlix), this anti-Catholic movie just really misses the mark. I'd rather watch properly done coming of age movies like Eighth Grade where their focus is on making a good movie with real characters. So like I said in my header, conceptually interesting, but messy execution due to lack of focus on what makes these types of movies good.
Now listen, this has the potential of working out. It's an interesting idea and a challenge that many teens have, especially ones who grew up Christian. But in execution, this is all over the place.
The biggest problem is that the filmmakers seem to be more interested in the anti-Catholic sentiments than telling an effective coming of age story. I get it. There's a fine balance that needs to be had in raising teens in a confusing world and many Christian groups aren't the best with their approach. Which is why this premise isn't one that I have a problem with, even though I am a practicing Christian (although not Catholic). But every Catholic leader in their retreat felt so fake. Every time there was a sermon preached, it felt like the writers and actors hadn't ever been to a Sermon. It was super cheesy and awful. It made Christianity sound like a huge joke.
Now maybe you are laughing at me. The Christian guy doesn't like the anti-Christian movie. But I just want a good movie. And all the Catholic characters felt fake. And all the teenagers in the movie also felt fake and purposely stereotypical. The only real characters were our main teen, played brilliantly by Natalia Dyer from Stranger Things, and the ex-Catholic lady she talks to at the bar who tells her how awful the Catholic church is. The fact that they were the only two sane characters who felt real made me laugh.
So much like all those cheesy Christian movies with horrible acting and predictable storylines (I'm looking at you, PureFlix), this anti-Catholic movie just really misses the mark. I'd rather watch properly done coming of age movies like Eighth Grade where their focus is on making a good movie with real characters. So like I said in my header, conceptually interesting, but messy execution due to lack of focus on what makes these types of movies good.