12 Surprisingly Good Movies From 2015 (So Far)

11. The Duff

What Everyone Expected: Marketing for this one did it no favours at all: this adaptation of Kody Keplinger's teen novel made it look like a pretty inane, air-headed high school comedy, even though the presence of indie darling Mae Whitman was kinda hard to ignore. What It Was: It's not up there with the classic high school comedies of the John Hughes era, but it's a solid stab in the same ballpark, updated for a modern audience and decidedly funnier and more insightful than expected. The film's secret weapon is Whitman herself, who makes for a likeable, self-deprecating lead, while the script gleefully lampoons the absurdity of the high school experience. The filmmakers know you've seen all those Hughes movies, and it works well within that context, introducing modern concerns such as how smartphones have revolutionised bullying for the current generation. It could've tried harder in a few aspects, but expectations were through the floor for this one, and it surprisingly rose to the occasion.