The Half of It (Alice Wu)

[Peng]

Trailer:

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[Peng]

I want a bit more character specificity with these many familiar teen film beats, but the gentle, heartfelt warmth spared to everyone makes up for a lot. That generosity, in insisting on inner life to all three fulcrums in this relationship, also makes some of this genuinely unpredictable; towards the end I realize that I have less than 30 minutes to go and still have no idea what the eventual outcome would be, which is almost thrillingly unexpected for this genre. 7/10

[dreamdead]

I was really surprised to see that this was A.O. Scott's favorite film of the year when he listed them out back in May. It's an odd one. I found Leah Lewis to be completely natural as Ellie, and really enjoyed how the film showcased her throughout. Less successful for me, though, was the whole confession-in-church bit, where a sudden reveal is done publicly and seems antithetical to the film's style, becoming a YA narrative beat that doesn't feel true to the character.

I liked the overall style of the film and want to see Wu's Saving Face after finishing this, but this was just sorta fine for me.