Hailee Steinfeld’s teen misfit comedy still lands its punches a decade on

Kelly Fremon Craig wrote and directed The Edge of Seventeen, her first time in the director’s chair, and it landed in theaters on November 18, 2016, after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, 2016. STXfilms released it. The tagline asks, “You’re only young once… is it over yet?” That question is the whole movie in seven words.

Hailee Steinfeld plays Nadine Franklin, seventeen and furious at nearly everyone. Woody Harrelson plays Mr. Bruner, her teacher. Kyra Sedgwick plays her mother, Mona. Haley Lu Richardson plays Krista, her best friend. The film runs 105 minutes and mixes comedy with drama.

Trailer, via STXfilms.

Nadine Franklin and the Brother She Can’t Stand

Nadine has a rough relationship with Darian, her popular older brother, played by Blake Jenner. She has a rough relationship with Mona, who cares about appearances. Her father, Tom, was the one she was close to. He died of a heart attack when Nadine was thirteen. Eric Keenleyside plays Tom.

Krista is the only person holding Nadine up. That is the setup, and the film knows exactly how fragile it is.

A Pool Party and a Morning After

Mona travels to the Oregon Coast to meet a boyfriend. While she is gone, Nadine and Krista get extremely drunk. Darian throws a pool party at the house. Nadine throws up and falls asleep. Krista stays up talking to Darian.

The next morning, Nadine finds Krista in bed with Darian. The friendship cracks right there. It is a small betrayal and a total one at the same time, and the film does not soften it.

Krista Chooses Darian

At school the next day, Krista pushes Nadine to come to a house party Darian invited her to. Nadine goes. Darian introduces Krista around and leaves Nadine standing alone. Nadine tries to mingle and fails. She sits outside with another partygoer, who tells her how inferior she seems next to her brother. She leaves.

Then Krista confronts Nadine for ignoring her. Nadine says Darian does not care about Krista and will drop her soon. Krista answers that Darian asked her to be his girlfriend and to prom, which is months away. Nadine, insecure and desperate, tells Krista to choose between her and Darian. Krista refuses. Nadine ends the friendship.

Erwin Kim, Nick Mossman, and Mr. Bruner

Nadine turns to Erwin Kim, a classmate who has a crush on her. Hayden Szeto plays him. She is drawn instead to Nick Mossman, an older student, played by Alexander Calvert, and her attempts to attract him go badly. She invites Erwin to an amusement park, then rejects his attempt to kiss her. At the end of the night she tells him he is a great guy, and they become friends.

For support at school, Nadine leans on Mr. Bruner, who is world-weary and tells her she is his favorite student to cheer her up. It is a small kindness and the film treats it as one.

What the Film Gets Right

The Edge of Seventeen grossed more than $19.4 million against a $9 million budget. It got positive reviews, and Steinfeld’s performance drew the loudest praise. That tracks. Steinfeld carries the film’s anger without making Nadine unlikable, which is harder than it sounds. The part could have been a sulk. She plays it as grief.

The film’s real subject is not the boy or the party. It is the loss of Tom, which happened four years before the story starts and runs under everything Nadine does. Every bad decision she makes is a person looking for someone to hold onto. Fremon Craig wrote that into the script and directed it without underlining it.

Harrelson is the release valve. Mr. Bruner is a teacher who has seen every version of this student and has stopped pretending otherwise. The scenes between him and Steinfeld are the film’s best, and they are the reason the movie does not drown.

The Prom Deadline and the Rest of the Year

Here is the running order of what Nadine faces, and how much time the film gives it.

The prom date matters because Krista uses it as proof. Darian asked her months ahead. That is a commitment, and Nadine hears it as a countdown.

Where the Film Stumbles

The Edge of Seventeen is a coming-of-age comedy-drama, and it wears both labels honestly. The comedy is drier than the marketing suggests. The drama is sharper.

The weak stretch is the middle. Nadine’s pursuit of Nick Mossman is meant to show how little she thinks of herself, but it plays thinner than the rest. The film already made that point with Erwin. Repeating it costs momentum the movie does not have to spare at 105 minutes.

The other issue is Mona. Sedgwick gets a mother who is image-conscious and distant, and the script does not give her enough room to be anything else. The film is clear that Nadine’s grief is the engine. It is less clear what Mona is carrying, and the story needs that.

What the Edge of Seventeen Earns

This is a film that trusts its lead and gets paid for it. Steinfeld’s Nadine is specific — a girl with a dead father, a brother she cannot stand, and a best friend who chose the wrong person. The Edge of Seventeen does not resolve that with a speech. It resolves it with small, awkward steps, which is how it actually goes.

The score is 7.7 of 10.

coming-of-age · Hailee Steinfeld · Kelly Fremon Craig · movie review · The Edge of Seventeen · Woody Harrelson