[Screen It]

 

"HOW TO BUILD A GIRL"
(2020) (Beanie Feldstein, Paddy Considine) (R)


At-A-Glace Content Summary

Alcohol/Drugs Heavy
Blood/Gross Stuff Minor
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude Heavy
Frightening/Tense Scenes Moderate
Gun/Weapons Mild
Imitative Behavior Heavy
Jump Scenes None
Music (Scary/Tense) None
Music (Inappropriate) None
Profanity Extreme
Sex/Nudity Extreme
Smoking Heavy
Tense Family Scenes Heavy
Topics to Talk About Extreme
Violence Minor


QUICK TAKE:
Dramedy: A British teen reinvents herself as a 1990s era music critic but must deal with the repercussions of her sudden success.
PLOT:

It's the 1990s and Johanna Morrigan (BEANIE FELDSTEIN) is a 16-year-old who lives in Wolverhampton, England with her parents -- Pat (PADDY CONSIDINE), a failed musician turned illegal dog breeder, and Angie (SARAH SOLEMANI), a woman worn out from having too many kids -- her still closeted brother, Krissi (LAURIE KYNASTON), and their three younger siblings.

Johanna wants to be a writer and has imaginary conservations with photos and images of famous people and characters from the past on her bedroom wall who've inspired her. Despite their support, her appearance on a TV show reading one of her poems goes disastrously wrong.

As does a short-lived interview for a weekly music publication. Inspired by another of her imaginary conservations, though, she storms back into the staff office and talks her way into covering new local bands. Reinventing herself as the avant-garde Dolly Wilde, Johanna becomes good enough in that role that she talks her way into an assignment interviewing singer-songwriter John Kite (ALFIE ALLEN) who senses a kindred spirit in the teen.

But when her fluff piece about him is rejected, she once again reinvents herself and dives fully into the persona of a belligerently harsh critic that makes her the talk of the town. But that fame and infamy mean she must deal with the repercussions of her sudden success.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Teen and older preteen girls might be interested due to the teenage protagonist (played by Beanie Feldstein of "Booksmart" fame).
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For sexual content, language throughout and some teen drinking.


That's just the introduction of this review. The full review -- available to our members -- includes summaries of the sex, nudity, profanity, violence and more (15 categories) so you won't be surprised by what you might see or hear in this movie.

We have two options for you:

1) If you're ready to sign for a monthly ($5/month) membership, you can sign up now and get immediate access to this review, others released this week, and thousands of others going back several decades.

We offer a 30-day, money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose by signing up. If you're not happy with what we offer, simply contact us and ask for a refund and we'll process that right away.

[Add to Cart]


2) If you want to check out our site first, we invite you to sign up for a FREE 3-day Pass into our Membership Site to our site so that you can finish reading the review as well as take a look at the thousands of other reviews on our site.

No credit card is needed and there's no obligation to continue after the 3 days (although we hope you'll like what you see and then join us as full members).

[Get Your FREE 3-Day Trial Membership]

I have subscribed to ScreenIt for more than a decade. I check in every week to take advantage of their amazing services. Not only does their site provide a glimpse of exactly what content a movie offers, I've found the “Our Take” reviews and ratings for each movie to be right on the money every single time. I've referred dozens of friends to this service because my #1 resource for deciding whether or not to show a movie to my kids, or to see one myself, is ScreenIt.com!

Josh Nisbet
Director, State of CA Public Sector

I signed up to get Screen It weekly reviews a long time ago, when my kids were young and I wanted to know more about movies before we went to a theater or rented. Now one child is in law school, other in undergraduate, and I still read the weekly Screen Its! It helps me know what my husband and I want to see or rent, and what to have waiting at home that we all will enjoy when my "kids" come home. I depend on Screen It reviews. They usually just present the facts and let me decide if the movie is appropriate or of interest for my family and me. Thank you for providing that service, Screen It!

Patti Petree
Winston Salem, NC

I have 4 children who are now in college. I signed up for Screen It when my children were pre-teenagers. Often my children would ask to see a movie with a friend and I wished I could preview the movie prior to giving permission. A friend told me about ScreenIt.com and I found it to be the next best thing to previewing a movie. The amount of violence, sexual content, or language were always concerns for me and my husband as we raised innocent kids with morals. We constantly fought the peer pressure our kids received to see films that in our opinion were questionable. With the evidence we received at Screen It, our kids couldn't even fight us when we felt a film may have been inappropriate for them to watch. Thank you, Screen It. Continue to make this helpful service available to everyone, but especially the young parents.

Christine Doherty
Machesney Park, IL

Screenit.com is an amazing resource for parents, educators, church groups or anyone who wants to make an informed decision whether a movie is suitable for their viewing. The reviews and content descriptions are so detailed I am mystified how the reviewers can put them together.

Scott Heathe
Vancouver, BC

I love screen It! I don't know what I would do without it. It is well worth the membership. Before we take our son to the movies we check it out on screen it first. Thank you SO much for making it. Keep up the good work & keep 'em coming!!!

Patrina Streety
Moreno Valley California

[Get Your FREE 3-Day Trial Membership]

Other new and recent reviews include:

[Around the World in 80 Days] [Family Camp] [Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness]

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2022 Screen It, Inc.