Parents' Guide to

Booksmart

By Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Superb, smart teen comedy has drinking, strong sex talk.

Movie R 2019 102 minutes
Booksmart Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • 1:13
  • Booksmart Movie: Amy and Molly driving and screaming in their graduation robes
  • Booksmart Movie: Amy and Gigi looking worried
  • Booksmart Movie: Amy and Molly clutching a lamppost at night

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 23 parent reviews

trincker221
trincker221 Adult
March 28, 2020
age 12+

Such a Good Movie

Every teenage girl needs to see this movie because they deserve to see themselves represented on screen. This movie has girls being funny and smart and multifaceted without shoving "girl power" in your face and calling it a day, it just accurately represents high school girls. This movie is a generational anthem, and it has an excellent protrayal of queer characters! This movie allows queer kids to see themselves without the hollywood chiche of "pretending to be straight" (Easy A, Lady Bird). This movie does have talk about sex and masturbation, but in my opinion, most teens already hear that at school, and the movie is sex positive in a way that is empowering instead of nasty. The soundtrack for this movie is also excellent and Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein deliver amazing preformances.
jmargethe
jmargethe Adult
November 15, 2020
age 13+

Positive, funny, and smart

I love this movie, and can't wait to show it to my daughter. She's 10, and I do think she'll get more out of it in a few years. Yes, there is profanity and there are numerous references to sex (as explained well in the 'Parents Need to Know' blurb) - but honestly, this is how sex *should* be shown to kids. It's healthy stuff. The girls are shown learning how to navigate difficult situations and stay in control of their bodies and their lives. The messages about friendship and growing up are powerful and never patronizing. I wish I'd seen it as a teenager.
See all 23 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In BOOKSMART, it's the last day of high school for best friends Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever). They've spent the last four years working hard and preparing themselves for bright futures at the colleges of their choice. Then, shockingly, Molly discovers that many of their classmates -- who've spent their high school years having fun and partying -- have also been accepted into top colleges or have landed first-class jobs. Molly decides that, since she and Amy have missed out, they need to go to the biggest year-end party there is. The downside is that they don't actually know where it is. As they go looking, they wind up at a yacht party, at a drama club party, in a cab with their principal, and having more misadventures. But before the end of the night, they'll find even more than they were looking for.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (23 ):
Kids say (36 ):

This wise, funny, compassionate high school comedy succeeds wildly on almost all counts, thanks to its strong, lovable characters and fresh, bracing approach. The feature directing debut by Olivia Wilde, Booksmart recalls nothing less than John Hughes' classic 1980s movies -- especially Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off -- but without any of their dated, now-cringe-inducing moments. Ironically, though, Booksmart's only flaw is inherited from those movies, in that the adult characters (played by Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, and Jason Sudeikis) are shown as clueless or pathetic, although Jessica Williams rights the balance a bit as a cool teacher.

Booksmart has a modern-day, open-minded take on race and gender identification, and no character is stereotyped. While characters have crushes, the movie's goal isn't romance but rather the complexities of friendship and of life itself (control and chaos). Wilde's achievement could have been mainly character-based and dialogue-heavy, but her work behind the camera is dynamic, exciting, and alive, incorporating musical numbers, singing and dancing, stop-motion animation, and some bravura camera moves and editing. For those currently in high school -- and for anyone who remembers it -- Booksmart has the potential to become a classic of the genre.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Booksmart depicts teen drinking, smoking, and drug use. Are they glamorized? Do the characters need to do these things to look cool? What are the consequences?

  • How is sex depicted? Do you think the graphic sex talk is meant to be realistic or shocking? What's the difference? What values are imparted?

  • The movie seems to be saying that a little fun mixed with responsibility is OK. Do you agree? What are the arguments for or against?

  • Are Molly and Amy role models? Why or why not?

  • Are the adults in the movie realistic? Are they silly or ridiculous? How do they relate to teens? Do they listen?

Movie Details

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