No instructions needed for this charming teen comedy.
There’s a particular element/device which is used frequently throughout How to Be a Girl, in which the main character played by Beanie Feldstein can be seen having conversations with a collection of photos of various noteworthy historical individuals above her bed, including Elizabeth Taylor, the Bronte sisters, Sigmund Freud, and even Maria from The Sound of Music. The film pauses its actions every now and again to have its heroine interact with these figures, who help her deal with the many crises a girl in her position would face. Actors such as Lily Allen, Michael Sheen, and Gemma Arterton bring these iconic people to life, and while it’s certainly a fun bit of escapism, it’s one which also holds more heft than one would suspect. It shows the many influences, both real and imaginary, from all ends of a multitude of spectra which have formed the main character’s ideology and helped shape her dreams. It’s a telling and fascinating way of establishing a character from the offset and an unconventional, if effective, way of launching into a story so wonderfully grounded in the kind of reality we don’t see enough of anymore.
Based on the novel by Caitlin Moran (who also adapted the screenplay), How to Build a Girl stars Feldstein as high-school student Johanna Morrigan (Feldstein), a working class girl from North London with a deep passion and talent for writing. When the chance of winning a national poetry contest goes nowhere, Johanna applies for a freelance gig at a trendy music magazine. After discovering a love for rock and roll (and a knack for writing about it), Johanna reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde, a fiery-haired music critic who most artists, including up-and-coming rocker John Kite (Alfie Allen), find themselves wowed by.
There must be some cringing among certain filmmakers when they realize they have to spend a significant portion of their film showing the element of writing within their story. It isn’t the “sexiest,” nor the most visually appealing act to illustrate on the screen. Yet How to Build a Girl showcases the act of writing in such a refreshing way thanks to its main character. Seeing Dolly come alive when she’s at her typewriter and the way she revels in the meaning and feelings behind the words she weaves together is so immediately intoxicating. Maybe it’s because Moran has adapted her own novel for the screen that the link between a character’s trade and their love affair with it proves to be one of How to Build a Girl’s strongest assets. So many films have their characters finding their voice after being stifled for so long by the time we meet them. In Dolly, however, we see a girl who already has a voice and then goes on to experience the exciting journey which helps her hone it, craft it, and make it totally her own. The scenes with Dolly scribbling or typing away understandably don’t carry as much visual weight, but damned if they aren’t strong testaments to the soaring sensation writing can bring and the unstoppable feeling of empowerment which comes along with it.
How to Build a Girl belongs in the coming-of-age genre, and as an entry, it doesn’t worry about putting a fresh spin on the traditional tropes. Instead, its primary concern is to be as true and authentic as possible. There is a bit of suspension of disbelief with how quickly Dolly becomes a bit of a name in the music world as a critic to be feared, but it’s in the character’s emotional journey where the film is every bit as genuine as it can be. We see Dolly consistently absorbing every experience she encounters, whether it be her developing a bond with her first interview subject (Allen), experiencing her sexual awakening, or collecting an award for her work. Through it all Moran allows her female protagonist to actually experience one significant event after another without any sort of rush and invites the audience to bear witness. Better than other similar offerings, How to Build a Girl does a great job of separating the two worlds the main character finds herself in, and likewise shows her two states of mind. Due to her age and the sense of wonder that comes along with it, Dolly finds herself in a wonderland everywhere she goes, while at the same time living in a present that’s dominated simultaneously by both her past and future.
Feldstein had the interesting problem of trying to find a role worthy of her time and talent following her star-making turn in last year’s Booksmart. I’m happy to report that it is a problem she seems to have solved. Dolly is as complicated and endearing a character as one would expect her to be, and the young actress welcomes the challenges and overall journey of bringing her to life, knowing exactly when to play a scene for laughs and when to venture into a place of vulnerability. Feldstein is ably backed up here with a stable of tremendous actors. Apart from a soulful Allen, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani,and Laurie Kynaston all excel as Dolly’s loving but problematic family. Emma Thompson and Chris O’Dowd score with their brief appearances, but it’s Joanna Scanlan who makes a slight, yet undeniable mark as Dolly’s frustrated, but caring teacher.
How to Be a Girl has its flaws. It doesn’t know exactly when to adhere to traditional plot structure and when to embrace its organic, free-flowing nature. Likewise, as I stated before, luck, chance, and good fortune seem to happen to Dolly in extremely quick succession, without her ever really being exposed to the world of rejection and compromising to the level someone in her position would in real life. In spite of all this, How to Be a Girl shouldn’t be stifled. Its story is pure enough and inspiring enough to warrant visibility and overall existence, while its heroine is the kind of young female representation that needs to be on the screen. Living in a time when too many young girls are reaching for the superficial over the visceral, hopefully How to Be a Girl will inspire those it manages to reach to recognize their own voices and the limitless power they contain.