Miss Stevens (2016)

Honestly this movie really let me down and was quite slow moving at times, aside from the billy scenes. But thank you timothee chalamet. A king. Really amazing job on this one, inspirational as always.

This is a sweet little movie, deceptively simple and light, yet with some surprising hidden depths. It's deftly written and directed, but what really sets it apart are the performances, in particular a beautifully judged star turn by Timothy Chalamet as Billy, a depressed teen, off his meds and surrendering to a crush on his English teacher while on a weekend away for a drama competition. Chalamet is by turns charming, funny, unsettling, heart-breaking and, when delivering a monologue from Death of a Salesman, simply dazzling. It's a charismatic, nuanced, confident portrayal that proves his Oscar-nominated performance in Call Me By Your Name was no fluke. They could have re-named the movie "Billy" and nobody would have thought anything amiss.

Was pleasantly surprised by this intriguing little film. All the acting is superb and you do find yourself emotionally investing in the characters. Lili Reinhart shines in every scene she's in, making the most of her character and packing a great punch with her sadly limited screen time. Let down - the ending is a little 'meh' and not much happens. But all in all it's really nice to catch these kinds of unique films and to know they are still being made.

As the synopsis states this movie is about a teacher who chaperons a group of three high school students to a state drama competition. That's just the opening page, so much more happens during these two days the four characters are with each other.An adult and three teens experience a walk through their own personal drama while participating in a drama competition. The English teacher Miss Stevens (Lily Rabe) is dealing with the recent death of her mother and her feeling of loneliness, Billy (Timothée Chalamet) is dealing with his personal depression and the meds he is forced to take, Margot (Lili Reinhart) is discovering her real call in life through her attempt at acting, and Sam (Anthony Quintal) is looking to find love and fun.The main focus of the story is of course is Miss Stevens as she strives to handle her own private life while trying to bring direction and focus to her students. The problem is direction and focus is minimal in her own life. Billy obviously has a crush on her and it's left unclear if Miss Stevens actually realizes this but she opens her soul to him. Billy misinterprets this into thinking she's interested in him. Billy has stopped his meds. Margot learns her talent, by failing at acting, that she is great at organizing as she is the only one that was able to get the school to fund the trip. The wild card is Sam because he knows who he is and just wants to find that special friend.At movies end everyone returns to the school and is met by their family. Each student has had a real learning and personal growth experience. We see Miss Stevens standing alone by her automobile watching them leave - just what did her experience with these students meant to her and has it actually changed anything in her life?