Teenage Cocktail

I've been on IMDb for years and never reviewed anything. There is no "I wish I was a real film critic" bs going on here. I just want to say that I loved it. It really reminded me of my teenage years and early 20's. I fell madly in love with this girl and we had a crazy relationship. We never did cam stuff because it wasn't a thing back then. We did have sugar daddies, and some of them were crazy as hell. This is a weird movie about drunk teenage girls that use men for money, so most people won't relate. But man, it reminded me of my life when I was young. I loved the movie. This isn't really a review at all. I'm just saying that I enjoyed it. My only issues were that the mom looked like 5 years older than Annie. She could have been her older sister, and the title makes no sense. If you "entertained" middle aged men for money as a teenager, this movie is for you! lol

An under the radar film that I'm sure many have not heard about, but hey, it was on Netflix. The premise sounded a little strange but like it could make for a fun time nonetheless. Didn't recognize the filmmaker or any of the main cast, besides Pat Healy. I dug him in Cheap Thrills but loved The Innkeepers, one of my favorite films from a little horror maker named Ti West. After watching Teenage Cocktail, I liked the portrayal between the two leads in the film but feel like major parts of the film were under-cooked.

The film is about a lonely girl named Annie who one day meets and befriends a girl named Jules. Their relationship is complicated but for the most part they flirt with each other in capacity before they realize their relationship is real. Along the way the girls decide to make money off of being cam girls. The girls want to escape and run away together but problems in their life occur and they need cash. Feeling cash-strapped, the girls decide to offer themselves for money to a random stranger online. Interesting premise, but the ending is too wonky and really doesn't build on something that was good.

The interactions between the lead actresses is great. You can feel the innocent but naughty connection between the two lovers. This relationship is at times portrayed very visually by great scenes of intimacy with close, personal camera shots and party themed fun and bright lights. The build-up to the film is oddly amusing. Its hard to figure where the film is headed as it makes itself seem to be a coming of age film, then a romance, then a thriller. Its all fine but I feel like Healy's character left more to be desired. The character has a lot going on but we don't really get to see a glimpse of his life before or after the ordeal.

Thus, the end kind of just slaps you in the face. It seemed like the script had a good thing going but fumbled closing it out in a satisfying way. I feel like bits and pieces were cut out and that characters kind of turned 180 and you can't help but feel like the writing is off. It's still not a bad film, just far from perfect. I didn't really have any expectations and I can't say I'm overly annoyed by how things turned out. Its a bit of a mixed bag, but leaning more towards the positive side.

6.5/10

Trying to make this a cautionary and moral tale instead of a heartfelt picture was a huge gamble. The movie was indistinguishable - there's too many other teen party flicks like this one.

As much as I enjoy Nichole Sakura's looks and talent, she's far too old to portray a high schooler. On that note, her character's parents were too young and incredulous.

At first I was thinking we would see a "buddy buddy" sort of comedy, where these two friends would get out of this small town and head to New York. That may have given the movie some imagination.

There was no real plot here and we had no good introduction to any of these characters.

I could relate to these girls. At least Annie. She's pissed that she had to move and basically disenchanted with life. That's teenager 101. I found it to be a very believable consequence of the actions of these girls. Being so young, they can't realize the consequences of their actions and certainly can't see that frank might be a creep like a grown up would see. It really doesn't dawn on them that he lied about his identity. So this film to me is very relevant to today's internet society, where one can make him or herself into whatever he wishes just with a few computer/phone keystrokes. Watch it. It's a good movie.

Not in a totally good way unfortunately, but just stuff that does not fit with each other. Don't get me wrong there are a few things that work more than alright here. The relationship between the two girls, their desperation and their bond if you want to call it that. But there is also a lot that just feels plain wrong.

While I am glad it didn't paint the one guy just simple colored, something you kind of expect, the turn he takes towards the end is just incredibly sad and miss-informed. Something to put on a show sort of. To get people riled up, to shock the viewers. It kind of achieves the opposite in my view. There was something there ... but like the girls, the movie missed a couple of opportunities ...