Booksmart (2019)

The critic praises Olivia Wilde’s debut as a note-perfect millennial portrait that captures the immediacy and specificity of youthful hedonism and female friendship without relying on broad messages. She singles out the lead performances by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever for their unfiltered charisma and the film’s euphoric, Polaroid-ready moments and spirited visuals.

The review hails the film as the best high-school buddy comedy since Superbad, praising the uproarious energy, strong cast, and Wilde's assured direction with bold surprises. It notes the script's long development and the leads' standout work.

The film is a goddamn delight and a major moment in the teen movie canon, with standout performances from Feldstein and Dever and a fantastically colorful ensemble.

The critic calls the film wickedly sharp and full of surprises, crediting Olivia Wilde's verve and the sharp script for elevating a familiar buddy-comedy template. He singles out the leads' performances for their comic timing and emotional depth.

The critic praises the film's riotously funny charm and strong lead performances as a highlight of recent teen comedies. They single out the empathetic portrayal of female friendship and characters for praise.

The critic calls it a razor-sharp high-school comedy sparkling with wit and strong chemistry between leads. They praise the stylish direction and depiction of female teenage life with a killer soundtrack.

The review finds the leads terrific in a winning portrait of female friendship and a confident directorial debut mixing humour and poignancy. It singles out the complex, non-stereotypical characters for praise.

The critic praises Olivia Wilde’s slick directorial debut for its fast, funny and feminist dialogue and for expertly modulating the giddy highs and bittersweet lows of teenage life. They single out the charged chemistry between leads Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever along with a surreal stop-motion sequence.

The critic praises the hilarious, blazingly paced teen comedy as Olivia Wilde's feature debut, highlighting the charismatic comic team of Feldstein and Dever and the colorful ensemble.

The critic finds the film a headlong, inventive high-school comedy that refreshingly avoids genre formulas with its all-female writing team and strong performances. He highlights the central friendship and clever, memorable details that keep it engaging.

The review calls Booksmart a lovable teen comedy that overachieves on every level thanks to its snappy direction and unbreakable central friendship. It singles out the joyful chemistry between the two leads as reaching inspired levels.

The review commends the film as a strong high-school comedy with compassion and evolving characters. It highlights the director's debut showing loads of empathy in a single night of partying.

The film is a corrective to Superbad, less mean-spirited, proving one can center girls’ experiences without sacrificing grossness, though with some minor formal missteps.

The critic praises the film as a fast, brainy teenage comedy that upends assumptions about high-achieving students and popular kids. He singles out the central duo's chemistry and the film's energetic, witty take on one wild night of belated fun.

The critic places the film immediately among high-school classics like Mean Girls and Superbad for its wit, raucous energy and emotional wallop. They single out Wilde’s cinematic style, including inventive sequences and strong supporting turns such as Lisa Kudrow.

The critic calls it a joyful, hilarious coming-of-ager that's way smarter and sweeter than it looks, praising its fresh take on teen comedy tropes with inventive visuals and pitch-perfect performances.

The critic adored Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut for its deep empathy toward its brainy teenage leads and teenagers in general, turning what could have been a raunchy comedy into a character-driven story of misadventures and relationships. Wilde’s sharp direction and the terrific ensemble cast, especially Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, make it a warm, funny, and uplifting film worth revisiting.

Wilde's first feature is a hilarious, sharp, endearing female-driven coming-of-age comedy that pushes the genre further with strong leads and fresh direction. The relationship between Molly and Amy anchors the film, which stands out for its queer, diverse, and female-centered perspective.

Olivia Wilde's debut is a hyper-fresh, stylish mash-up of Superbad and John Hughes for Lady Bird overachievers, a coming-of-age classic with terrific chemistry, humor, and emotion. It ends on a perfect note mixing poignant feeling with teen vibrancy.

The critic hails it as one of the most perfect coming-of-age comedies, singling out the natural chemistry and intimacy of the central female friendship and the inclusive, modern handling of teenage sexuality and diverse identities.

The critic praises the film as a fresh, authentic take on the nerds-on-the-loose teen comedy trope, highlighting Olivia Wilde's expert direction and the believable, winning lead performances by Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein.

The critic hails it as a classic in the making that reinvents the high-school buddy comedy with effortless diversity and genuine laughs centered on authentic female friendship.

The critic hails Booksmart as a smarter, funnier Superbad that puts two teenage girls in the spotlight, allows them to behave badly and be selfish, and above all remains kind by dismantling stereotypes rather than propping up protagonists at others’ expense. It singles out the natural chemistry between Dever and Feldstein and the lived-in details of female friendship and growing up as what make the film sing.

The critic calls Booksmart a filthy, sweet, and hilarious directorial debut from Olivia Wilde that gives its female leads the kind of raunch historically reserved for boys, with strong performances from Feldstein and Dever and a confident visual style. While praising the heartfelt portrait of friendship, it notes the film’s slick, upper-crust bubble can feel oppressively unrealistic.

The critic finds Wilde’s charming debut captures something new in the teen comedy by immersing its overachieving heroines in a lawless world of youthful possibility and consequences-free fun while highlighting their perfectionism and nerdiness with sympathy. It praises the leads’ layered performances and the film’s enthusiasm for the transformative disappointments of teenhood, though it notes the director’s crowd-pleasing approach sometimes smooths over harsher emotional edges.

Wilde's directorial debut offers a modern, inclusive makeover of the bawdy high school comedy with a warm message and empathy for all characters. The central pairing of Molly and Amy is a cracker, supported by sharp performances and classy characterization that rings true beneath the humor.

The film balances laugh-out-loud moments with genuine heart, catapulting it into the pantheon of coming-of-age films. The leads and supporting cast are superbly drawn, with the central friendship driving the story through intelligent takes on adolescent contradictions.