A sarcastic Woody Harrelson. A despondent and angsty Hailee Steinfeld. Teenage love and best friends feeling betrayed by other best friends. From the early looks of things, The Edge of Seventeen could be the next great teen indie drama the likes of Juno or The Perks of Being A Wallflower. Steinfeld is leaving her pop star aspirations behind (at least temporarily) in order to return to the big screen in a movie about dealing with classic teenager problems like your best friend dating your hot brother, plus not knowing how to socialize at high school parties.
Besides big names like Harrelson, Steinfeld, Kyra Sedgwick, and Blake Jenner, the film’s cast is a mostly unknown group which also allows the movie to feel like an every-teen’s tale of struggle in the face of high school awfulness. The trailer also gives glimpses of happier moments for Steinfeld’s Nadine though with uplifting shots of her riding a bike through suburban streets, spinning into a pool from the deck, or riding a Ferris Wheel at a very 80’s-feeling carnival. It’s hard to judge a movie by a first trailer alone, but this looks to be a good bet for “uplifting yet tear-jerking teen movie of the year.”
Hailee is an Oscar nominee due to her True Grit performance so she can handle heavy subject matter. Here, she’ll also get to bring some levity and empathy to situations like accidentally texting some really dirty stuff to the boy you have a crush on.
