Seventeen

Seventeen is one of those new generation films about queer teens where their sexuality isn’t a source of angst. This continues to be something to celebrate in the progression of queer cinema. Additionally, Seventeen should be celebrated for its mixture of meticulous cinematography and messy teen emotions

The film follows a group of Austrian high schoolers. The main character is Paula. Paula has a crush on a her classmate, Charlotte. However, Charlotte has a boyfriend and the two girls are too awkward to make much headway with each other. Paula also has a very complicated relationship with popular girl, Lilli. The girl’s relationship is initially antagonistic though Lilli soon begins flirting with Paula. Eventually, Paula and Lilli embark on some sort of relationship or experimentation. This is despite the fact that Lilli has a boyfriend and Paula’s true interest remains with Charlotte.

Seventeen is a very open depiction of teen sexuality and exploration. Characters get lots of opportunities to experiment with multiple people across genders. This is really the only conflict in the movie. In some ways, it isn’t relatable because these teens lives do seem largely ideal. They’re all fairly good at school, have time for partying and also have the option to date and experiment. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I certainly felt like my opportunities to explore as a teen were limited.

Where Seventeen really shines is in portraying the awkwardness of teen dating and relationships. It’s genuinely impressive that any of these kids do end up getting kissed. Interactions between teen characters are so damn awkward. Now that’s relatable. The film is really good at emphasizing small moments like a brief hand brush. It also so excellently captures how truly terrible teens are at flirting. It’s not surprising Paula initially reads Lilli’s flirtation as a joke. Teens are generally bad at both flirting and being the recipient of flirtation. I’ve rarely seen a movie that captures that so well.

What’s strange is that on their own, the characters lack depth. Paula has limited character traits as do all of the secondary characters. Yet the relationships between any two characters are rich and deep. Whether it be friendship or romance, Seventeen really mines what makes each relationship tick and what makes it unique. It’s just bizarre that when characters are on their own, all this depth completely vanishes.

Seventeen lacks a proper third act and it seems to know this. Visually and certainly musically, the film wants us to believe something big is happening in the last 20 minutes. I really thought someone was going to get murdered. The film starts to feel like a thriller and the score won’t stop building tension. But it builds to nothing. No one gets murdered. It’s just people being sad about near-miss relationships and hurt feelings. Nothing special at all. Had they not tried to pretend like the film was building to something much more dramatic, I would’ve been fine with this. But the framing heightened my expectations too much for the anti-climax of an ending.

Seventeen is a little murky about what’s it’s trying to “say” as a movie. But even that sort of works. It’s a movie about the messiness of teenagers. So, it sort of fits that the film’s own perspective and opinions are all over the map. What really holds the film together is its meticulous direction. As messy as the characters and story are, the visuals are immaculate. The cinematography is good and Seventeen understands visual storytelling. It ends as a nice juxtaposition of very controlled visuals giving structure to a story about the messiness of youth.

Overall rating: 6.4/10

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