Many coming of age movies in recent years haven’t been close to an accurate portrayal of teen life; but that is something that can’t be said about this movie. The Edge of Seventeen is well-written, well-paced, and overall well executed. 

The main character is a teenage girl named Nadine, (played by Hailee Steinfeld) who feels alone in the world after her dad dies and her brother and her best friend start dating. The main thing I love about this movie is that it doesn’t make Nadine an innocent victim. As the movie goes on you see the points of view of other characters and see Nadine’s flaws becoming increasingly obvious. This is most amplified when she is shown using another character for validation and not seeing him as a person until the end of the film. 

Nadine has a great student-teacher relationship with Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson). The movie shows her eating lunch in his classroom and asking him for advice but  It never feels like it’s gone too far or has become inappropriate. Even when he reads an explicit text message that Nadine had sent to a boy she liked, it didn’t turn it into something creepy. It was humorous and awkward just as it should be.

Hailee Steinfeld was the perfect person to play the role of Nadine. Her line delivery and comedic timing were done amazingly well. The writing didn’t shy away from using the vulgar language that people in high school actually use without it feeling overdone or used for shock value. One critique I’ve seen is that the movie is predictable, but I think the reason it’s predictable is because it is relatable and the dialogue is so well written that it's easily forgivable.

This movie has a lot of different characters that appeal to a lot of different people. A teacher watching this can relate to the teacher in the movie because he says things that they want to say but aren’t allowed to.  People who have lost a parent may be able to relate to Nadine's grief. Many high school students can also relate to her awkwardness and the fact that she eats lunch with her teacher. Older brothers can relate to this because of the wonderfully thought out character that is Darian (Blake Jenner). This movie has many different types of characters which makes it appeal to a wider audience due to the relatability that it offers.

The Edge of Seventeen has so much going for it but the overall best part is the accuracy of teen life. You can tell that a lot of care went into it unlike some other movies that have drama for the sake of having drama.