We’re onto the last week of term, which means that you either have coursework deadlines to rush through or exams looming in the not-quite-distant future. Here are some oft-overlooked gems on Netflix for when you inevitably decide to procrastinate.
Friday night – The Diary of a Teenage Girl – Genre: indie drama
It’s Friday, and you’ve turned down Fruity “because deadlines,” even though your friends were practically begging you to come. The FOMO that you’ll inevitably feel will best be cured with some good old teen angst, so look no further than 2015’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl. The film, director Marielle Heller’s directorial debut, follows 15-year-old Minnie as she traverses the awkward, sticky, hormonal minefield that is teenage life. It’s a funny but thoughtful comedic drama which portrays female sexuality in exactly the way that most modern cinema fails to; “I had sex today. Holy shit!” Minnie says, the opening line of the film, an unexpectedly frank declaration which reminds us that not all comedies about sex need star Michael Cera or Jonah Hill.
Saturday night – Obvious Child – Genre: comedy
Okay, so maybe you did end up going out, and now you have a killer hangover. Deep, think-y movies are definitely off the table, so indie comedy it is. Obvious Child (2014) is about Donna (Jenny Slate), a twenty-something-year-old stand-up comic who’s getting an abortion after a one-night stand ends in her getting pregnant. Slate is an extremely likeable lead, and the film has actual laugh-out-loud jokes which will make you realise that this is the Knocked Up you wanted but never got.
Sunday night – The Big Short – Genre: comedy/drama
You’ve wasted your weekend and now you feel guilty. We get it. So to get your brain started, check out The Big Short (2015), a dramatisation of the 2008 stock market crash starring Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carrell and Brad Pitt that’s equal parts thrilling whilst being funny whilst also being (fairly substantial) brain food. The characters may not be completely true to their real-life counterparts (what with it being a dramatisation) but these creative liberties allowed the film to fashion what ended up being a compelling narrative out of the complex, infuriating mess that was the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Mikhail Hanafi
(Image courtesy of Jaap Buitendijk/AP)