“I do not think my adventure starts with a boy, I think it starts with me”

These words appear at the beginning of How to Build a Girl, the ambitious new film by Coky Giedroyc, and her first feature in over twenty years. An audacious comedy in the vein of many similarly-themed coming-of-age stories that focus on a young individual defying the constraints of their individual lives, whether it be the challenges that come when trying to prove yourself as worthy to your childish detractors or your socio-economic status that many see as too much of a hindrance to follow your dreams. In this case, Giedroyc is adapting the book of the same title by Caitlin Moran, who is writing from a place of experience, with her own roots as a young journalist being reflected in this wonderfully buoyant tale of realizing your dreams and discovering your identity along the way. Certainly not a film that isn’t without flaws – ultimately, it does have some significant shortcomings by way of some strange directorial choices, the occasional logical fallacy that comes as a result of a rushed script, or some slight inconsistencies in terms of the performances. However, these are all eventually overcome by a charming tale of a young woman venturing into the intimidating world that she stands in front of, and discovering herself along the way. Charming and irreverent, How to Build a Girl is a very successful film when it reaches the heights it aims for – and while it may miss on occasion, it doesn’t matter all that much when the many strengths of this film are made abundantly clear.

In the 1990s, Johanna Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein) is a precocious sixteen-year-old who aspires to be a writer – she doesn’t know what she wants to write just yet (much to the bane of her teachers, who find themselves trying to reign her in and get her to pay attention to developing something of a style), but knows for sure that she is destined to put words on a page – she just needs to figure out the specific ones she should choose. Her salvation eventually comes in the form of an application to become a writer for DME, a prestigious music newspaper that are actively seeking out writers. It doesn’t matter that Johanna is much younger than her co-workers, or that her lack of experience (and knowledge) in popular makes her a strange choice for the position since she possesses enough gusto to compensate for every bit of reluctance others assert onto her skills. However, when it becomes clear that she is far too positive to truly be an effective critic, Johanna adopts the nome de plume of “Dolly Wilde”, and sets forth on a rampage, where she eviscerates every musician she’s tasked to review, writing scathing takedowns on their style (both musical and fashion), talent and even taking the cheap-shots of commenting on their appearance. This makes her wildly popular with her co-workers, who see an uptick in sales since they let “Dolly” loose, but at the expense of her own personal relationships, with her line of work conflicting with the simple values instilled in her by her family, and ultimately taking a massive strain on those she is supposed to care the most about. However, Dolly hasn’t quite taken over just yet, with Johanna still remaining, hidden behind the callousness – and she’s yearning to break free and realize that she still has a long way to go because when building yourself, there’s no such thing as a shortcut.

We’ve seen films like How to Build a Girl before – just last year, we received the delightfully charming Blinded by the Light, one of many wonderfully effervescent voyages into the lives of youth realizing a passion for music and encountering the various challenges one faces when coming to terms with their unusual interests. Films like this are primarily propelled by the proverbial idea of being a square peg in a round hole, and none of them manage to encapsulate the spirit of such an idea as How to Build a Girl, which takes some unusual risks in telling the story, some of them working wonderfully, others being just a step or two away from being entirely successful. As a whole, the film works for a number of reasons, one of them being the genuine heart it has. Moran put together quite an endearing story about a young woman coming to terms with her identity, which Giedroyc represents effortlessly, realizing some complex themes with an ease not normally found in filmmakers with the unfortunate degree of anonymity as Giedroyc, who proves that the doubt is entirely unearned, even when How to Build a Girl isn’t operating as well as it should, considering the depth of potential embedded in this film. It’s a tale of an eccentric protagonist experiencing the wonder of reaching dizzying heights, and the humiliation that comes with the inevitable fall – and while this is not revolutionary storytelling, nor particularly impressive in any artistic way, How to Build a Girl is a very solid achievement that takes quite a serious approach to a surprisingly moving story, one that has many unexpected twists and turns throughout, but retains its charm, especially when it is at risk of becoming too overwrought.

Beanie Feldstein is probably the best reason to watch How to Build a Girl, and considering two major factors, this isn’t entirely surprising. The first is that she’s rapidly becoming one of the film industry’s most interesting actresses – whether it’s in a small supporting role (such as Lady Bird), or a leading part (as in the case in Booksmart), Feldstein proves her mettle as one of the new coterie of stars awaiting to take over the medium and stake their claim as the guiding forces for an entirely new generation of filmgoers. The second reason is that she’s exceptional in How to Build a Girl. In all honesty, the character of Johanna Morrigan/Dolly Wilde is quite abhorrent – she is intentionally unlikable, callous and nasty, whether it be through insulting the bands she is paid to write about or disrespecting her family that she suddenly sees as inferior to her as they haven’t achieved the nationwide acclaim she has. Feldstein rolls with the punches and emerges a champion, which is a remarkable feat considering how despicable the character is meant to be. She’s very funny and fully committed to the role, and shows herself willing to do anything to bring this character to life. Her accent at times may be a bit too laboured, but its a minor problem considering the depth she brings to a role that could have so easily been another attempt to humanize a terrible individual. Feldstein is joined by a variety of terrific performances – Paddy Considine is as empathetic as always as her caring father, while Laurie Kynaston is a scene-stealer as her brother struggling with his own identity, especially when the only person he trusts abandons him for the sake of furthering her own career. There are a bevvy of wonderful cameos scattered throughout, contributing to the rich tapestry Moran and Giedroyc are intent on portraying. The film is worth watching for the wonderfully surprising appearance from a certain actress right at the end, which lends How to Build a Girl even more quirky charm.

However, there are some problems that persist throughout How to Build a Girl, many of which have to do with Giedroyc’s choices in bringing the story to life. As is the case with many novels adapted to the screen, this film had an immense amount of material to work with, and unfortunately appeared to struggle with deciding what to keep, since Moran is trying to distil her entire book into a single film. The result is a well-meaning story that skips over many crucial details and rushes moments that warranted further exploration. There’s a sense that the filmmakers were intent on commenting on something much deeper, but failed to show this in any discernible way at certain parts of the film. They do employ some interesting narrative devices in order to make How to Build a Girl stand out and give it the chance to overcome its overloaded story, but it does end up being a bit too tightly-packed to be entirely successful. It also doesn’t help that the film suddenly becomes incredibly dark – it rapidly changes from an uplifting comedy about finding yourself and borders on a morality tale about addiction, loneliness and self-harm. This on its own doesn’t really impact the film, but rather the way the tone is almost laughably absurd. There are moments that are supposed to be massively dramatic or moving but are rendered as flippant and inappropriate, which is entirely accidental, as it was clear the film was trying to take these issues as seriously as they should. Tonal inconsistency is a major problem with How to Build a Girl, and it doesn’t help that some of the writing isn’t particularly great either – Moran seems to struggle with moving beyond her authorial roots by putting together a series of grandstanding monologues that feel like they should be important, but rather serve to be a bundle of cliches and saccharine emotions that ultimately whimper away. Its certainly not bad enough to ruin the film, but does detract from the overall experience, especially when there are so many more impressive ideas and elements persisting throughout the film.

How to Build a Girl is a lovely film for a number of reasons – it is another wonderful showcase for Beanie Feldstein’s immense talents, giving her a platform to portray her unique skills as an actress and to play a character that isn’t just a scene-stealing supporting player, but rather one that affords her the chance to carry an entire film by herself, an opportunity she takes in her stride. Its a very funny film, with moments of outrageous humour contrasted with those of more heartfelt emotion, which is the result of a director who found the perfect balance between the two. The film may struggle to stay afloat once we are fully immersed in it, and it does make some questionable choices, but ones that are eventually overcome by a more pleasant approach to the subject matter. How to Build a Girl is not a revolutionary film, but it has a renegade spirit, which it uses to celebrate the themes of rebellion and individuality with heart and humour, infusing an otherwise simple story with a lot of heart and even more subversive humour, which ultimately results in a very charming, buoyant celebration of life and its many wonderful idiosyncrasies. There’s a lot to love about How to Build a Girl, which makes it a very special film that isn’t weighed down by its problems, but rather insistent on portraying exactly why it is such a worthwhile endeavour into the mind of a very unique individual in the first place.