Why not?
That seems to the reigning philosophy of the kids in Flower, a new drama from director Max Winkler. It stars Zoey Deutch as Erica, a Los Angeles teen with an appetite for drama. In the teaser, which premieres today exclusively on Refinery29, Erica and her friends perform a trick on a corrupt L.A. police officer.
"You're going to prison, you fucking criminal," she tells him proudly. Trick is, the plan isn't to send him to prison. The plan is to extort him. "We're not taking you to prison. We're just taking your money," she reassures the police officer, played by Eric Edelstein.
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Erica is an unapologetic vigilante. She punches, she steals, she breaks, and she enters. She evades the cops — until she can't. Her mother, played by Kathryn Hahn, her step dad, played by Tim Heldecker, and a mysterious male friend, played by Adam Scott, seem oblivious to Erica's machinations. Until, of course, they can't. All actions have an opposite and equal reaction.
The plot revolves around Erica's relationship with her step brother, Luke, played by Joey Morgan. Luke is declared "mentally unstable," which makes their relationship all the more curious. This is all rather heavily guarded in the teaser, which is more a study of Erica's explosiveness rather than her relationships. (A fun fact: Dylan Gelula, who plays Xanthippe on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, also appears in the movie.)
Deutch, who starred in Before I Fall, has a preference for strong women characters. Her character Sam in Before I Fall was just as prickly as Erica.
"She's not this stoic, perfect, one-dimensional female character," Deutch told Teen Vogue of her character. "She's complicated. She's a walking contradiction of herself. She's not good. She's not bad. She’s like the women I know."
So, incidentally, is Erica.
Watch the full teaser for Flower, below.
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