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How to Build a Girl

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How to Build a Girl

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Summary

Coming-of-age comedy drama starring Beanie Feldstein. In the early 1990s, Wolverhampton teen Johanna dreams of flying the nest and becoming a writer. She adopts a new persona and starts to make a name for herself as a music critic, but her new-found success brings its own pitfalls.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Stephen Applebaum

After stealing scenes in best friend roles in Lady Bird and Booksmart, Beanie Feldstein takes the lead in this lively adaptation of Caitlin Moran's eponymous semi-autobiographical novel. From her opening close-up, as she fantasises about boys and wonders how she'll escape her drab working-class life in 1990s Wolverhampton, to her final address to camera, Feldstein is magnetic. She plays Johanna Morrigan, a lonely 16-year-old aspiring writer who, despite knowing more about Joyce than Nirvana, lands a freelance gig with a rock magazine. Writing as Dolly Wilde, she falls in love with music, but quickly learns that "to get ahead, you have to get a hate". So she fills her pen with poison, but is this who she wants to be? Feldstein keeps us onside with her innate likeability even when she is being a "bitch" and rolls gamely with the film's wild tonal shifts. The film doesn't dig very deep, but it is big-hearted fun, with a protagonist you'll love.

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6.0/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameJohanna MorriganBeanie FeldsteinJohn KiteAlfie AllenPat MorriganPaddy ConsidineAmandaEmma ThompsonAngie MorriganSarah SolemaniKrissi MorriganLaurie KynastonTony RichFrank Dillane

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Crew

rolenameDirectorCoky Giedroyc

Details

Released on

2020-07-24

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing, sex scenes

Formats

Colour

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