Films about teenagers discovering their sexuality have a bad name in the business. “Don’t call it a coming-of-age movie,” a film distributor recently pleaded with me, “or no one will come.” But you might want to make an exception for this gentle, honest and frequently painful tale of a teenage girl who gets a crush on the wrong guy over a long, hot summer on the Brooklyn shore.
Lila – newcomer Gina Piersanti, giving a performance so real it’s hard not to think you’re watching a documentary – tries to copy her older friend Chiara by pretending to be more sexually sophisticated than she really is. She ends up way out of her depth but fiercely refusing to give up after meeting Sammy, an older boy with problems of his own.
There is a rawness and realness about the film – a writing and directing debut by Eliza Hittman – which lifts it out of the clichés of the coming-of-age genre. And the sense of a summer balanced between boredom and discovery that will change Lila’s life is almost palpable. It’s a film you should see, even if you can’t – or don’t want to – remember what that summer was like.
Sun Oct 13, Hackney Picturehouse, 18:30; also Tue 15, Rich Mix, 21:00
