Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Two New York City girls make a pact to lose their virginity during their first summer out of high school. When they both fall for the same street artist, the friends find their connection tested for the first time.
Very Good Girls is a fairly formulaic coming-of-age drama with a predictable romantic triangle at its center. The pact-to-lose-virginity premise and best-friends-falling-for-the-same-guy conflict are well-worn territory, offering little narrative surprise. The acting from Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen elevates the material somewhat, bringing genuine emotional investment to their roles, though the script doesn't give them enough to work with. The New York City cinematography is competent and occasionally evocative but not distinctive. The film's resolution feels rushed and unsatisfying, failing to deliver meaningful closure for its central relationship. Overall it sits comfortably in the middling range of the coming-of-age genre.