Director: Megan Park

Stars: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler

Canadian actor-turned-writer-director Park’s comedy drama sports a clever conceit that it only partially takes advantage of. Elliott Labrant (Stella) is a queer eighteen-year-old just finished high school and about to set off to college. During a mushroom session with two of her friends, a mysterious woman (Plaza) appears who reveals she is the thirty-nine-year-old version of herself. While the cynical world-weary old Elliott half-heartedly dispenses advice, she does stress that young Elliott that she must weary of a boy called Chad, before she disappears. Inevitably, Elliott meets young man Chad (White) who appears to be flawless, but she is unable to track down her older self for further counsel. The YA script occasionally borders on saccharine when some of Plaza’s spikey wit might have been welcome, and a third act revelation will come as not too much of a surprise to those who have been paying attention. Still, the picture boasts appealing performances from the leads, and cinematographer Kristen Correll invests the Canadian lakeside environs with a wondrous quality. Bonus points awarded for a cute role reversal musical fantasy number midway featuring Justin Bieber’s ‘One Less Lonely Girl’.

David Willoughby

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