Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend.
The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a bold, singular coming-of-age film anchored by Bel Powley's fearless, nuanced performance and a distinctively female gaze rarely seen in films tackling teenage sexuality. The graphic novel integration and 1970s San Francisco atmosphere give it a unique visual and tonal voice, and Marielle Heller's direction ensures the story is told from Minnie's subjective perspective without moralizing — a genuinely rare achievement. The plot is deliberately episodic and sometimes meandering, and the ending, while emotionally honest, doesn't fully resolve with the impact the buildup warrants. Cinematography is competent and period-appropriate but not especially distinguished beyond the animated sequences.