‘Booksmart’: A Fun Coming-of-Age Comedy
Wilde’s coming-of-age comedy directorial debut is simultaneously hilarious and entertaining, and remarkably heartfelt and relatable.

Jérémie, bicycle courier, crisscrosses the city at full speed; he delivers anonymous backpacks, blindly following the instructions of his boss Dom. Lonely, Jérémie records a podcast in which he shares his conspiratorial view of the world. His daily life is turned upside down by the arrival of a new neighbor, Élyane Boisjoly, a famous instagrammer for whom he develops a fascination. His life is turned upside down when one night his obsession with Élyane disturbs him to the point of making him miss a delivery. In a violent manhunt orchestrated by Dom, Jeremy has no choice but to act.
Wilde’s coming-of-age comedy directorial debut is simultaneously hilarious and entertaining, and remarkably heartfelt and relatable.
As one of the women said in the film, friendship in your teens is “as important as any lover” and it’s clear they lived that philosophy throughout their early adult lives as well.
Ultimately, Wicked is a story about the cost of being othered, the pain of being misnamed, and the quiet revolution of standing in your truth.
One of the reasons I love watching movies is that, much like books, they serve as windows into other times and different places. Productions from around the world offer valuable insights into the history and culture of their respective countries. And just like literature, cinema can help us understand the present by showing us the past.
You can’t talk to my grandpa about The Sopranos. You can’t talk to him about The Godfather either. Merely by bringing up the subject, you’d be treated to a lecture on how movies and TV want you to believe that all Italians are criminals and mobsters. He won’t watch any of it, in protest.
Gritty and bleak are the best words to describe this film. There’s nothing happy about it.