Yes, God, Yes

Disappointing that it's sort of just another coming of age movie, taking the tropes and side characters that you usually see in those movies and using them pretty ordinarily here. With the premise it had, I really wish it had been funnier, crazier, edgier, or just a little less predictable.

It falls into that annoying category of dramadies where it's neither particularly funny or particularly dramatic (I call it Entourage Syndrome, named after how lazy that show could be when it frequently didn't commit to either comedy or drama).

Most of the performances are okay, and the brief length keeps it from being too dull, but it was a slight disappointment, even if not bad.

Oh: and it doesn't capture the time period nearly as well as something like Ladybird. Sorry to compare it to that, but overall that was a much faster, funnier, more emotional, and far better paced movie in general.

If you watched The Miseducation of Cameron Post, this film is almost identical, only much more about hypocrisy and no lesbianism. The Kirkos christian retreat depicted in the film actually exists, only it's called Kairos, and the story in the movie seems to be rooted at least partially in an actual experience. I was really expecting this to have been a book adaptation, just like Cameron Post, but it wasn't.

Now the film is pretty good. I don't think they could have found a better lead than Natalia Dyer, of Stranger Things fame, as she seems to be the kind of girl that got forward in life by furrowing her brows and looking innocent. I mean, there is a scene when she claims to be 21 to get a drink in a bar and no one believes her, which I found hilarious as she's 24 in the film. Basically the whole premise of the movie is that most people are hypocritical, expecting from others what they themselves don't do. It's a whole film of people being phony, spreading lies, using terms they don't understand and then the actual "climax" is not the last scene, which was kind of pointless really, it was the bar scene, where the bar owner and the Christian schoolgirl exchange ridiculous Catholic reasons why they thought they're going to hell.

Bottom line: a film that is direct in depiction, but subtle in character emotions and development. Perfect casting choice for the lead and most acting was very good. Overall, a better than average film. I liked it better than The Miseducation of Cameron Post, to which it resembles way too much.

The writer/director Karen Maine went to a Catholic school in Iowa and made this movie based on her own experiences there in the 11th grade. I didn't attend a Catholic school but grew up being taught Catechism by Priests and Nuns so I can identify with a lot of it.

The movie points out a truth about religious education in general, the use of fear to try to motivate teenagers to stay on the straight and narrow. Watch porn and you'll go to hell. Masturbate and you'll go to hell. Lose your virginity and you'll go to hell. The problem with that approach is eventually kids get to a point where they realize what is going on and all that goes for naught.

Yet somehow most of us grow up to be good, moral people. And that is sort of the punchline of this story.

I watched it at home on DVD from my public library, my wife skipped.

A great coming of age story. Natalia is a perfect fit for the role.

This film really feels like one of those festival hits that plays best in the festival setting. It addresses some interesting things around religion and sex, and the main character is likeable. It's a bit slow at times though. Worth a watch, but it's going to appeal most to fans of indie and arthouse films or perhaps someone who has left the Catholic faith and deeply relates to the topic.