Hurray! A 15-year-old girl has found sexual dependency! Why, I know women thrice her age who never got there. I find it difficult recommending a sexually explicit film about a 15-year-old sleeping with her mom’s boyfriend. Recommending it in general, however, is not half as difficult as specifically recommending it to whom? This material is too adult for the teens it describes and it might just cripple the parents of those teens. Not to mention the fact that half of this country is gonna object right off the bat with the whole statutory rape angle.
The 70s were often a cruel time. Nowhere is that clearer than seeing a teenager lose her virginity while wearing a “Mickey Rat” t-shirt. Minnie (Bel Prowley, who is currently 23, but looks and acts every bit the 15-year-old she plays) walks us back through her sexual conquest. And to her, it is conquest; there isn’t the slightest bit of doubt or confusion about her scoring with mom’s boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgård). And, of course, among the questions The Diary of a Teenage Girl asks is “how young is too young?” Let’s ignore the fact that it’s illegal; the movie sure does. Is Minnie mature enough to be able to handle sex? What level of responsibility do we apply to the grown man having sex with her? Does it matter that he cares about her?
One key thing Diary does is dispel the notion of what the school slut both looks and acts like. Heck, that word “slut” implies something very negative, yet I find nothing negative at all about Minnie besides, perhaps, her naïveté. She’s neither pretty, nor exceptionally developed, but only society associates such with sexual promiscuity. She is self-assured about her desires and it makes us root for her even thought we know this is going to end badly. She talks about wanting to sleep with Monroe long before it happens. She even suggests it to get the ball rolling. When it does happen, she loves it; she just can’t enough. Far from being put off or disappointed, it encourages her to branch out and explore all sorts of new and exciting penis adventures. And just when you think you’re dealing with an adult in a teen body, she accuses Monroe’s sudden reluctance to her being fat, when it’s obvious to everyone that Monroe is finally realizing what a douche he’s been. (She exacerbates the “fat” thing by leaving a strange note on his car in defense of fat sexual people.)
Caught in the middle of this triangle 
is mom (Kristen Wiig), who found another good supporting role here. You want to be the woman who discovers her boytoy is sleeping with her underage daughter? And all of the action is narrated through the trappings of San Francisco in the 1970s: Minnie’s tape-recorded diary, monster-thighed feminist cartoonery and deliberately non-sensational cinematography underscoring the parts of The City that haven’t changed in the last forty years.
If you can get past the idea that this is a film about a fifteen-year-old girl graphically exploring her sexuality with adult partners of a different generation, this is a wonderful character study. Bel Prowley is among the best finds the 2015 radar has located. Assuming you can get beyond basic plot, I have one real fault in the form of consequences; sex is not a real good idea for teens for a number of reasons and only the surface of the consequence gamut is scratched here. It’s probable the producers figured the outrageous material would make you forget to notice. I didn’t.
♪Had a dream, ‘bout some porn
I was naked in some masculine dorm
And now he’s standing right in front of me
Everything I want for free, right now
Had a scream, til that time when I had to confront my biggest lie
Well that is not the place I wanna try
Sleeping with my mother’s guy, you know♫
Rated R, 102 Minutes
D: Marielle Heller
W: Marielle Heller
Genre: Flying your freak flag prematurely
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Former troubled teens
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The parents of presently troubled teens
♪ Parody inspired by “Had a Dream”
