The Wise Kids

This is the best movie ever!! I grew up in South Carolina, where the movie is set (graduated from high school in 1998), and this movie felt a little like stepping into my half-forgotten past - it was so closely observed. There's something thick about the atmosphere in the South that I grew up in, like you could cut it with a knife. That's captured in the movie.

I identified a lot with the three "wise kids," especially Brea. The movie's subject matter is weighty. Besides the coming-of-age theme, it takes on religious faith. One character in particular may be losing her religion, and the movie makes it clear that this will have implications not only for her personal religious faith but for her relationships with many of the important people in her life. The movie handles the subject in a way that feels honest and true to life. Another actress, Allison Torem, delivers an extremely strong and actually kind of intriguing performance as a devout teenager.

This is also a very watchable movie. They don't make many like this one. I'm so glad I stumbled across it!