‘I’ve just had sex! Holy sh-t!’ is the very first thing we hear uttered from 15 year-old Minnie even before the opening credits roll. She is not talking to us but to her cassette tape recorder into which she secretly records her innermost thoughts. Minnie backtracks to relive the past two days that led up to losing her virginity to Monroe her mother’s current boyfriend, who at aged 35 is 20 years older then Minnie.
He hadn’t been the instigator of her deflowering as Minnie had not only been a willing participant but she had all but thrown herself at this very laid back older man who just wasn’t going to turn down this golden opportunity. It is the mid 1970’s and they live in San Francisco and life couldn’t possible have been anymore free-spirited. Minnie’s mother is probably not the best role model for a teenager daughter as she parties hard and somewhat indiscriminately with her pals, and hides little from Minnie or her younger sister. Minnie apes her mother’s attitude to life and soon gets a taste and a liking for drugs and drink from her school chum Kimmie who has already gained quite the reputation for being generous with her sexual favors.
When Monroe is not immediately available to satisfy her increasing sexual appetite, then Minnie makes out with a boy her own age, but she is immediately disappointed with his inexperienced clumsy performance. She has better luck when she encounters a rather wild and streetwise lesbian called Tabatha.
The only person who attempts to act like a parent to this adolescent who is suddenly growing up very fast, is their stepdad Pascal who now lives in NY. His claim to take control is based on the fact that he was the only boyfriend that their mother had actually bothered to marry. Now that they are divorced however, he’s rather jealous and upset that their lives have moved on without him. Neither mother nor daughter welcome his attempts to get involved in their affairs.
Monroe and Minnie’s relationship is like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Not only is there the real possibility that their secret will be discovered especially as they all live together at close quarters, but there is the whole question of Minnie’s maturity. She can handle the sex well enough and be physically satisfied, but on an emotional level, she has such innocent dreams and ideals of ‘true love’. Monroe the object of her affection on the other hand thinks the affair is no more than a pleasant and satisfying diversion which he knows he must put a stop too.
Based on the graphic novel of Phoebe Gloeckner, the movie is written and directed by actress/filmmaker Marielle Heller who skillfully ensures that the teenager’s affair is never sensationalized or feels even remotely immoral. She imbues Minnie with the naturalness of a precocious child that on some level is mentally mature for her age and who innocently wants to enjoy her sexual awakening with an experienced lover who can fulfill all her desires.
Heller incorporates some clever animation with the live action which helps us see how Minnie’s over-active imagination works. The rest is left to the 23 year-old British actress Bel Powly with her big saucer-like eyes that Heller picked from near obscurity, and who so perfectly captures manipulative Minnie with such alarming perfection. It is a powerful performance and is a career-defining moment that marks the arrival of a major new star. Her ‘Minnie’ beautifully molds with that of devilishly handsome Alexander Skarsgard as the easygoing and passive Monroe, and playing Minnie’s poor mother who never really grew up enough to parent children is the always wonderful Kristin Wiig.
The Diary of A Teenage Girl is a perfect record of a time of sexual revolution when being uninhibited was no longer a cause for moral indignation and will strike a chord with not just those that lived threw it, but also others who wished they had.
★★★★★★★★
