Rating: B-
Authenticity ought to be the goal of any sort of growth. Whatever changes you might make to yourself—in terms of fashion, outlook, career, personality—should, all things being equal, lead you to a more refined and truer version of who you were meant to be. Not that we don’t stumble along the way. Stumbles are important. Stumbles are the way we find out who we are.
How to Build A Girl, the latest film from British television director Coky Giedroyc, is nothing if not an ode to the stumbles we make along the path to self-realization. Based on the novel of the same name from writer Caitlin Moran, who also writes the screenplay, the film takes an unflinching look at the pains and perils of growing up and the recognition that every mistake is an opportunity to bring you closer to your self.
Which is, of course, standard coming of age fare. It would be my biggest complaint about the film if the film itself wasn’t so proudly and unabashedly itself. Formulaic or no, Giedroyc and Moran have crafted a film of near irresistible charm that more than makes up for the feeling of familiarity that it brings to the table. They are aided in their efforts by a bright performance from up and comer Beanie Feldstein who, between this and last year’s Booksmart, is quickly becoming something of an icon for young girls in search of who they are.
Feldstein plays sixteen-year-old Johanna Morrigan, the sort of bookish outcast the actress has become known for since her emergence. She loves classic literature and dreams of breaking out of the confines of her working class British existence to achieve literary stardom. When a weekly music publication announces its search for a new writer, Johanna refashions herself as Dolly Wilde, a hard-partying rock critic with a take-no-prisoners approach. As her star begins to rise, however, the stark contrasts between Johanna and Dolly begin to raise questions about who it is, exactly, she wants to be.
While Feldstein isn’t exactly out of her wheelhouse in How to Build A Girl, she does manage to capture the trial and error angst of self-discovery with the impassioned earnestness the role needs. She is every girl I knew in high school, struggling to define herself in ways that are both authentic and unique. Feldstein has an incredible knack for creating characters such as Johanna and making them entirely her own.
Hers is an utterly charming journey anchored by the allure of success and infamy, both of which she achieves in her Dolly Wilde persona. But at what cost? As Kurt Vonnegut once opined, we are who we pretend to be. As much as Dolly Wilde is a fabrication to help establish herself, we do, eventually, become that which we mimic. The lines of personality are always blurry but they become even more so with practice. The problem, of course, is that what we practice isn’t always what we wish to become.
Loosely based on writer Moran’s own experiences, the script deals with all manner of topical realities that affect young women as they attempt to define themselves as they see fit. Johanna embraces the role of oversexed superstar and journalistic bad girl, finally breaking free of her bookish desires in ways that earn her the respect of her peers, all the while losing the respect of those closest to her. Moran’s experiences lend an aura of authenticity to the narrative that propels the film through its formulaic design into something truly endearing.
Though almost painfully standard, How to Build A Girl is delightful enough to make up for how terribly familiar it is overall. It never attempts to be anything other than what it is, and in its commitment to itself it finds that this niche, which has been well trod in recent years, has more than enough room for more stories that celebrate the pains and passions of coming of age. Like the film itself ultimately posits, you don’t have to be something new to be who you are, and that’s a lesson we can all stand to hear a few more times.
How to Build A Girl is now available on VOD platforms everywhere.
