Calling all Lady Bird fans! There's a new woman-centric coming-of-age tale on the horizon, and her name is Booksmart. Prepare to be obsessed.
Olivia Wilde's directorial debut even stars a Lady Bird alum: Beanie Feldstein as Molly, a high school senior about to embark for college, who realizes that she and best friend Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), have missed out on some life-defining experiences.
"Nobody knows that we are fun," Molly says in the film's debut trailer, released on Monday morning. "We didn't party because we wanted to focus on school and get into good colleges."
"And it worked," Amy points out.
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"But the irresponsible people who partied ALSO got into those colleges," Molly replies. "We haven't done anything. We haven't broken any rules!"
What follows appears to be a night of raunchy, hilarious debauchery that's so often-associated with comedies about male bonding. The script was a collaboration between the women who have experience subverting the genre: Susanna Fogel (The Spy Who Dumped Me), Emily Halpern (Trophy Wife), Sarah Haskins (Trophy Wife), and Kate Silberman (Isn't It Romantic). Wilde's partner Jason Sudeikis co-stars, along with Billie Lourd, Will Forte, Noah Galvin, and Lisa Kudrow.
The film premiered at SXSW on Sunday (which also happened to be Wilde's 35th birthday) , and the initial reviews are glowing.
Uhhhh holy shit BOOKSMART is a masterpiece? #SXSW
— Emily Yoshida (@emilyyoshida) March 11, 2019
#Booksmart is a coming of age, like...masterpiece? @BeanieFeldstein is a goddamn STAR. This movie just added years to my life.
— Kevin Fallon (@kpfallon) March 11, 2019
thank you universe for this recent wave of movies about uncool girls who are actually uncool. ? #EighthGrade #AWrinkleInTime #YesGodYes #Booksmart pic.twitter.com/43eetZXYpj
— Angie J. Han (@ajhan) March 11, 2019
I loved every inch of #Booksmart. A killer brew of high school party comedy crammed with true true true female friendship feelings. There are visually stunning scenes where @oliviawilde is just straight up flexing her impressive first-time director muscles. #SXSW
— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) March 11, 2019
And in a fun twist of fate, Booksmart has also earned comparisons to Superbad, which starred Feldstein's brother Jonah Hill in his breakout comedy role. Someone cast them in a movie together, stat!