Booksmart

I really liked Beanie Feldstein in Ladybird, and she is matched in this film by Kaitlyn Dever. The characters they play, and the other characters they interact with in the film are what make this an exceptional film.

Booksmart is feminist, foul-mouthed and funny, turning the formulaic tropes of bawdy comedies inside out and giving us a couple of teen heroines who feel real and very 2019.

It felt decidedly new, from the pair of friends at the centre of the story to the celebration of female intelligence, ambition and loyalty.

Franklin's voice fills the room. Nearly a half-century later, many audience members will feel just as carried away.

As for the film's own balance between conscientious goals and living for kicks, it's neatly done. The depiction of the pair's friendship is believable and good-spirited in a way that recalls Lady Bird...

...witty, raucous, perfectly played and eventually packs an emotional wallop.

In some ways, youth never changes. But it always feels fresh.

Booksmart already stands as the best comedy of summer. It'll be interesting to see if anything can remotely come close to dethroning it.

Booksmart is a loving and endearing piece of filmmaking - wickedly funny and adventurous - and a jaw dropping directorial debut from Wilde.

This fun, fast-moving film is a directorial debut for Olivia Wilde, who helped polish a script kicking around for a decade-one written by four women, not to the detriment of its general cohesion and frequent hilarity.