Rating: Ever since it first sparkled into life, people have been been clamouring for a sequel to Inside Out. As Pixars best film in years, and one that by its very nature is open for more exploration, it apparently seems silly to let it lie. Well, I dont think they should. Not only because the studio doesnt need any more sequels on their upcoming slate, but because we kinda already have a thematic (if very un-Pixar) follow-up in the form of The Diary Of A Teenage Girl. On the face of it, aside from the San Francisco setting (the most flippant comparison I assure you), Diary is as far away from the family-friendly, U-rated emotional thrills of Pixars latest as possible; this is a solid 18 movie, with a plot that centres on an underage girl sleeping with her mothers boyfriend, featuring numerous paedophillic sex scenes and long dissections of immature sexual confusion. But if youre looking for the ideal follow-on from a story about facing the positives of melancholy, then an honest sexual awakening drama is the natural place to go. Honest is a word people often flippantly use to describe anything that approaches unflinching reality, but here its totally apt. You know from pretty much the first frame that what Minnie (Bel Powley, who I swore I recognised from something, which given her limited filmography must have been odd catchings of CBBCs M.I. High - crazy) is entering into is wrong - if not totally in her control - and yet you totally buy why she thinks its right. She's not a bad person, with any character flaws born out of troubled circumstance; she's simply naive and idealistic. To put it in stark perspective, at fifteen shes only four years older than Riley (its a reading Im bringing into the film myself, but still). Its a complicated journey emotionally (hence my laboured Inside Out comparison), yet the film is presented in such a way that it doesn't skim on entertainment value. I can see a more pretentious filmmaker presenting the film with straight-laced realism - none of the copious diary voiceover or drug/emotion-enhanced visuals that punctuate the various dream-like sequences - which would lead to something with a similar message, but none of the character intimacy or humour to actually make us care. Smartly, Marielle Heller (in her directorial debut no less) uses the sort of thing that would be twee in many other films to get us inside a teenagers mindscape because thats how a teenager would express herself. Obvious really. Teenage expression is what we're ostensibly here for, and in that regard Powley is the films real ace. Her flitting from sexual dominance to childlike playfulness, often in topless scenes, is disturbing, but ultimately elicits compassion. Kristen Wiig (who is getting well into ditching her comedienne typecasting) and Alexander Skarsgård (who delivers a performance as hard to pin as his character's emotions) are equally down-to-Earth as the other two corners of this borderline incestuous and highly inappropriate love triangle, which ranks as one of the most f*ked up in cinematic history. The Diary Of A Teenage Girl has been on my radar for a while, mainly thanks to an impressive trailer and a lot of hype following its appearance at Sundance, and for it to wind up so well produced, above similar indie teen drams (looking at you Juno) is a relief. It's a smart, wittily observed film that through all its fantastical trappings feels real, prompting questions outside of its young protagonist's situation. Despite ending with a meta-dedication to all women, Heller has tapped into something more universal (along with Wild, this is second film of 2015 - based on UK release dates - to be mislabelled as feminist when it is in fact humanist). After all, sexual misjudgement, a desire to be loved and a perceived lack of identity (the latter of which is so Inside Out it hurts) arent restricted to the minds of fifteen year old girls any more than addressing the balance of Joy and Sadness is for eleven year olds. Like this review? Seen The Diary Of A Teenage Girl? Share your thoughts down in the comments.
