Summaries

Synopsis

Nadine Franklin (Hailee Steinfeld) hurries to her high school history classroom during lunch recess. She confides to her history teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson) that she plans to kill herself. Her threats and his responses illustrate their uniquely wry relationship. Nadine narrates as a series of flashbacks are depicted. At age 7, differences between young Nadine (Lina Renna) and her older brother young Darian (Christian Michael Cooper) are already obvious (Darian is a born winner & Nadine is a born loser). Nadine has a tempestuous relationship with her overly dramatic mother (Kyra Sedgwick), while Nadine's father (Eric Keenleyside) is her only ally. Nadine meets her first and only friend during recess, young Krista (Ava Grace Cooper). At age 13, Nadine continues to be buoyed by her relationships with Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) and her father, as tensions between Nadine and Darian continue. As a result of her father's death, Nadine's life for the next few years becomes, as she puts it, "complete shit." Up to the time Nadine is seventeen, Krista was the only "good part" of her life.

During their break period, Nadine and Krista are having lunch when Nadine confesses her attraction to older student Nick Mossman (Alexander Calvert). Later on at the house, Nadine's mother has left for a getaway weekend. Nadine and Krista get drunk, while Darian throws his own pool party. Nadine falls asleep on the bathroom floor, and wakes up to find Krista in bed with a naked Darian. Krista tries to fix things but Nadine is tormented thinking about her best friend with her brother. Krista and Darian think to break it off with each other, but he ends up asking her to be his girlfriend and to prom next May.

Nadine feels desperately alone and resorts to her classmate Erwin Kim (Hayden Szeto), who has an obvious crush on her. The two spend the night at an amusement park. She discovers that although he is awkward, he has a great sense of humor and is extremely kind. Nadine is still attracted to Nick, an older mysterious student who she has only met once at a local pet store. Krista confronts Nadine for ignoring her so Nadine makes her choose between herself and Darian. Krista doesn't want to choose. Nadine unleashes her fury and tells Krista their relationship is over. Krista being with Darian adds to the tension in Nadine's house.

At school, Mr. Bruner has become Nadine's go-to person for support. He lets her vent all her anger at him but afterwards, as a way to guilt her, reveals that she is his favorite student. He hands her his phone number in case she ever needs to reach out to him.

Erwin calls Nadine and the two spend the evening in his gigantic heated swimming pool. Although Erwin is super wealthy, he is rather lonely and his parents are on a 3 month-long business trip in South Korea. Nadine learns that he is an artist and animated filmmaker and accepts his invite to their school's short film festival that upcoming Saturday morning, where he will premiere his latest animated short. Wishing to avoid Krista after a bad argument, Nadine joins her mother at work. The two end up in an argument about Tom, and Mona insults her daughter by saying that her father would be disappointed in the way she turned out. Disgusted, Nadine steals her mother's car keys and drives away to a local playground. In the heat of the moment, she writes a sexually explicit text to Nick, decides against sending it, but is mortified when she accidentally hits "send".

The film returns to the present, and Mr. Bruner tries to keep Nadine calm about the message she has sent. She receives a text from Nick, asking her to hang out that evening. Nadine rushes home in excitement to get ready. Darian is out that evening with Krista, when he gets a worrying phone call from his mother, causing him to rush home. Mona then confesses that Nadine is missing, and that she has depended on her son as the father figure since Tom died. Darian expresses concern for their situation and leaves to find Nadine. During their date, Nick repeatedly attempts to have sex with Nadine in his car, though she only wishes to kiss him and get to know him better.

Embarrassed and heartbroken, Nadine runs away and calls Mr. Bruner, who drives her to his house, where they wait with his wife and baby boy until Darian arrives. Darian confesses to Nadine that although his life seems perfect, he has been secretly suffering from the pressures of having to take care of the family ever since their father died. Darian even confesses that he feels trapped and did not apply to colleges far away, and the only person who helps him smile is Krista, but even that is a problem too since Nadine is upset that Krista is with him. Back at their home, Nadine confesses to her brother that for the longest time, she has been dealing with self-hatred, intensified by her jealousy of him. Darian acknowledges her pain, and for the first time, the two hug and their feud comes to an end.

Saturday morning arrives and Nadine readies herself for the school's film festival and the premiere of Erwin's animated short. Nadine walks downstairs on her way out and is welcomed by Darian and Krista, and the two girls happily agree to catch up later. Mona wakes up too late and fears that Nadine has run away. Realizing that her mother is worried, Nadine responsibly sends her a text message saying that she is safe. Mona, receiving the text, decides to trust her word and replies with a simple "OK." Erwin's animated film (animated by David Silverman) is a story about a green alien boy who falls in love with a girl at high school but is rejected by her. Realizing the metaphor, Nadine apologizes to Erwin for taking so long to accept his love, though he jokingly replies that his movie is not about her. Erwin is congratulated by his colleagues. When he introduces Nadine to them, she greets them with a smile, finally opening up to others.