Growing Pains
Unfortunately, its intentions do not overpower the inadequate artistry.
This is a well-meaning film that sincerely cares about complex issues plaguing American life. This includes homophobia, misogyny, cancer, peer pressure, eating disorders, and predatory behaviour from young men. The film also represents disabled and queer women at a time when such identities are being pushed further to the margins of on-screen representation. Catherine Argyrople’s directorial debut deserves its praise as an indie film trying to put good back into a hurting world.
Lifelong friends Nat (Deanna Tarraza) and Zoe Christopoulos (Molly Morneweck) undergo a challenging period in their friendship in the final summer before starting high school. Nat’s abuela (MaGa Uzo) is dying, and her first kiss is with another woman, Lexie (Maia Isabel Frias), bringing out her father’s classical “not-in-my-house” homophobic slur. Zoe has her own struggles to worry about too. The new pressures of high school and making new friends shake her body insecurities, causing her to join the row team (amongst other, more harmful practices) to lose weight. Zoe also finds herself forced into giving a lamentable handjob by the local prick.
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