how to build a girl movie review

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, chaz's journal, great movies, contributors, how to build a girl.

Now streaming on:

Some lucky few achieve their impossible dreams well ahead of schedule—if there’s even such a thing as a schedule for success. Johanna Morrigan ( Beanie Feldstein ) is one such lucky dreamer in Coky Giedroyc ’s adaptation of Caitlin Moran ’s bestseller “How to Build a Girl.” Although she starts out a painfully shy loner who fantasizes about writing professionally, Johanna finds a niche for herself as an upstart rock critic shaking up the boy’s club of a music magazine in early ‘90s London. She might be only 16, broke, live in an un-posh part of Wolverhampton, and have too many siblings and a set of uncool parents, but Johanna finds the strength to take on the critics both inside her mind and out in the world to make a name for herself.

There is more in “How to Build a Girl” that works than doesn’t. It’s charming and sweet, and even in its more serious moments, the movie never loses its sense of humor. Feldstein’s accent may not always be on-point, but her acting sure is. Johanna’s moods vary from self-pitying sad girl to an awkward teen desperate to be accepted to feigning confidence to take on her own critics. Feldstein particuarly has fun when Johanna creates a new persona, Dolly Wilde. Playing the part of a stylish music journalist, she dyes her hair bright red and dresses up in a buttoned shirt with a bowtie, tailcoat, top hat and shorts with tights and of course, a solid pair of Doc Martens. There are several great little moments where Feldstein capitalizes what she says with her expressive eyes and reactions, especially when her character stumbles into her first romantic feelings with her first interview subject. We may be used to seeing Feldstein play the best friend in “ Lady Bird ” or “ Booksmart ,” but in “How to Build a Girl,” she’s proving that she can carry a movie by herself.

Moran’s story, which she also adapted for the screen, shares a number of details with her own life, like a set of hippie parents, growing up with many siblings in Wolverhampton and starting her career as a young music journalist. Save for a few slower scenes, the story moves briskly, following Johanna’s meteoric rise with plenty of humor. As Johanna finds more success, her outfits evolve from baby show punk to an outfit worthy for an audition for “ The Greatest Showman ”—what a teen girl may think it takes to stand out, be cool and to fit into the boy’s club. The film also shows the harassment Johanna faces as her co-workers pick on her for age, gender, and class, but she meets their taunts with a plucky determination and a newfound inner strength.

Supporting characters played by Chris O'Dowd , Emma Thompson and Paddy Considine , who plays Johanna’s dad, give Feldstein the chance to show a range of awkward reactions and interactions. Although Johanna may think of herself as all grown-up, she still has a lot to learn when communicating with adults. Her mother, played by Sarah Solemani , is unfortunately a nonentity tired out by the needs of five kids and a musician husband. She almost looks as if she could be Johanna’s older sister rather than her mom. Her presence looms over Johanna’s mind as a cautionary tale. While Johanna dreams of Jane Austen novels and a room of her own, her mother seems to have given up on life.

With neither parent available to her, Johanna turns to the wall art collage of famous figures, philosophers and authors played by Gemma Arterton , Michael Sheen , Jameela Jamil , Lucy Punch , and Lily Allen , to name a few. Through her active imagination, Johanna solicits advice from the moving subjects in the photos. They talk her up, make her believe in herself, and give her the inspiration to write. Unfortunately this is one of the movie's few flat notes, a cliche idea in an otherwise refreshing story. The ending also suffers an easy flaw, but Feldstein’s performance is so endearing and Moran’s story so compelling, that it’s practically forgivable.

Through the eyes of a 16-year-old, “How to Build a Girl” bottles the insecure feelings of not being good enough, fearing rejection, and dreading what are you going to do with your life. Johanna believes in a world beyond her school commute and that there will be love and adventure just outside her humble home. The film hits the high notes of what it feels like to write passionately into late-night hours and the thrill of a writer’s first printed byline, as well as the lows of making rookie mistakes and feeling like a failure. While at first glance “How to Build a Girl” may have a lot in common with Cameron Crowe ’s coming-of-age classic “ Almost Famous ,” there’s so much of Giedroyc’s movie that’s distinctly its own, including the message to “not to beat yourself up so hard—the world will do that for you.”

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to RogerEbert.com .

Now playing

Family Portrait

Brian tallerico.

Tomris Laffly

Despicable Me 4

Matt zoller seitz.

The Convert

A Quiet Place: Day One

Revoir Paris

Jourdain searles, film credits.

How to Build a Girl (2020)

102 minutes

Beanie Feldstein as Johanna Morrigan

Emma Thompson as Amanda

Alfie Allen as John Kite

Paddy Considine as Pat Morrigan

Sarah Solemani as Angie Morrigan

Laurie Kynaston as Krissi Morrigan

Lucy Punch as Sylvia Plath

Coky Giedroyc

Writer (based on the novel by)

Caitlin Moran

Cinematographer

Hubert Taczanowski
Gareth C. Scales

Latest blog posts

Retrospective: Jean-Pierre Melville and the Cinematic Hitman

Netflix's The Decameron Sinks to New Lows

Silents Synced Pairs Silent Classics with '90s Alt-Rock (It’s a Gen-X Thing)

Time Bandits Offers a Fun Summer Diversion

Supported by

Critic’s Pick

‘How to Build a Girl’ Review: Write On

Beanie Feldstein rocks as a nerdy high schooler who transforms into a music critic in this clever comedy.

Share full article

By Jeannette Catsoulis

Bursting at the seams with plot and patter, Coky Giedroyc’s coming-of-age comedy, “How to Build a Girl,” gives you a whole lot for your money. Sometimes almost too much: This brisk, breathless story of a socially inept high schooler in the 1990s who finds notoriety as a rock critic ( adapted by Caitlin Moran from her semi-autobiographical novel ) has so many peaks and valleys that on paper it would look like Joe Exotic’s polygraph.

It’s just as well, then, that it stars the supremely game Beanie Feldstein (playing a more mettlesome version of her “Booksmart” character) as Johanna, 16, an aspiring writer who craves being cool. Voluble and nerdy, Johanna lives in council-housing ignominy in the British Midlands with a feckless father (an overlooked Paddy Considine), a postnatally depressed mother (Sarah Solemani) and a mess of brothers. Constantly stirring a caldron of wants, Johanna has little going for her except cheek, ambition and — crucially — a vocabulary.

She’ll need all three when she wins a contest to write for a rock magazine (despite knowing little about music beyond the “Annie” soundtrack), rechristens herself Dolly Wilde and briefly soars before falling flat on her face. Picking herself up and dusting herself off becomes something of a habit as Dolly is humiliated by her male colleagues — entitled snobs who view her as an amusing curiosity — and rejected by her first crush. In response, her prose swerves from starry-eyed to snarky (she describes one band’s music as “ear cystitis”) and her journalistic stock climbs.

Like a stone skipping on water, “How to Build a Girl” leaps from raunchy to charming, vulgar to sweet, earthy to airy-fairy without allowing any one to settle. Yet it’s so wonderfully funny and deeply embedded in class-consciousness — “We must never forget it’s a miracle when anyone gets anywhere from a bad postcode,” says one character — that its tonal incontinence is easily forgiven. There are at least five visions of Johanna here, and Feldstein nails every one of them.

How to Build a Girl

Rated R for getting naked and talking dirty. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. Rent or buy on Amazon , iTunes and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

79% Deadpool & Wolverine Link to Deadpool & Wolverine
95% Dìdi Link to Dìdi
76% Twisters Link to Twisters

New TV Tonight

90% A Good Girl's Guide to Murder: Season 1
-- Batman: Caped Crusader: Season 1
-- Futurama: Season 12
-- Women in Blue: Season 1
-- Unstable: Season 2
-- Hotel Portofino: Season 3
-- Betrayal: The Perfect Husband: Season 2
-- Unsolved Mysteries: Season 4
-- Cowboy Cartel: Season 1

How to Build a Girl Reviews

“How to Build a Girl” has a lot going on in its favour. It may perhaps be a bit overstuffed for some tastes, but its heart is consistently in the right place in spite of this.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 14, 2024

Feldstein has proven to be a master of the genre and How to Build a Girl is worth watching for her performance alone.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 17, 2023

For a film where the central character has to develop a unique voice in order to stand out, the final product is crushingly formulaic... The result is a movie that resembles an album of terrible cover versions of your favourite songs.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 12, 2022

How To Build A Girl is a charming, funny, raunchy, even sweet coming-of-age tale

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 1, 2022

Even in the film’s busier, messier moments, Feldstein is always highly watchable, and more importantly, relatable.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | May 13, 2022

Fast and fun, it features a great lead performance from Feldstein.

Full Review | Aug 10, 2021

Feldstein, who made big strides with her parts in Lady Bird and Booksmart, is as winning as ever here.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2021

Feldstein's performance is outstanding and another indicator that she is a treasure. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jan 22, 2021

Feldstein's charms are brilliantly weaponised here.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 9, 2020

The strong, distinctive, individual voice you keep hoping to hear never breaks through.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 22, 2020

It's not subtle, but How to Build a Girl shouldn't be a quiet movie; it's as loud and full of life as its central character ...

Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 16, 2020

That sense of goodwill around television veteran Coky Giedroyc's comedy is certain to apply to even the most hard-hearted viewer.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 13, 2020

There's not enough here to register as more than occasionally diverting, and so How to Build a Girl ends up falling apart.

Full Review | Sep 14, 2020

Several individual sequences really sparkle, but the life lessons are awfully overfamiliar and the quirkiness is exceedingly twee.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 22, 2020

The film doesn't dig very deep, but it is big-hearted fun, with a protagonist you'll love.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2020

With a lesser cast, I may have forgiven its broad sensibilities, but its complete waste of an exceptionally talented troupe of actors feels unforgivable.

Full Review | Aug 19, 2020

A charming, light-footed comedy about the awkwardness of being a teenage girl - especially of a creative bent.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 1, 2020

Johanna may be wise, but the film never puts her on a pedestal.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 27, 2020

[An] entertainingly ramshackle coming-of-age story, adapted by screenwriter Caitlin Moran from her autobiographically inspired bestseller.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 26, 2020

It's a great story and Beanie Feldstein as the Caitlin character is one of the best casting moments of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 24, 2020

an image, when javascript is unavailable

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘how to build a girl’: film review | tiff 2019.

Beanie Feldstein incarnates a teen adventuress cutting a swathe through the British 1990s music journalism scene in 'How to Build a Girl,' an adaptation of Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical book.

By Leslie Felperin

Leslie Felperin

Contributing Film Critic

Share on Facebook
Share to Flipboard
Send an Email
Show additional share options
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Share on Tumblr
Share on Whats App
Print the Article
Post a Comment

As fun as a night in the mosh pit with your best mate, How to Build a Girl casts up-and-coming It girl Beanie Feldstein ( Lady Bird , Booksmart ) as a brainy, bawdy and irrepressibly rebellious working-class teen prodigy coming of age in Wolverhampton, U.K., in the early 1990s.

Living out a lightly fictionalized version of journalist-turned-novelist-turned-screenwriter Caitlin Moran’s own story (she wrote both the original book and screenplay), Feldstein’s Johanna harnesses her hyper-fecund literary talent to infiltrate an all-boys enclave and become a nationally known music critic at the tender age of 16. Directed by Coky Giedroyc with a fizzy vibrancy and supercharged by Feldstein’s intense charisma, this crowd-pleasing comedy has smart things to say about class, sex and female identity. In the U.K., where Moran is a best-selling celebrity, Girl is likely to send audiences into a frenzy of pleasure. Abroad, the sell may be a bit trickier but the potential is definitely there, especially given the audiences’ reinvigorated receptivity to female-centric stories.

Harking back to halcyon days when getting paid to write snarky reviews was actually glamorous, and the music scene was a lot seedier, sexier, less digitized and fragmented, Girl taps into a relatively little explored nostalgie de la boue for the last decade of the 20th century. Set around 1992-93 or thereabouts, the film honors a time when Britannia was just becoming cool and smoking still was, £10 could buy a whole new image via smart shopping in secondhand stores, and it was possible to feed a family of seven on state benefits, as long as you had a side hustle like breeding border collies.

The latter is indeed the black market occupation of Pat Morrigan (Paddy Considine, bringing a touch of the troubled paterfamilias he played in the stage production of The Ferryman , as well as an already established talent for drumming), who along with his depressed wife Angie (Sarah Solemani) presides over a tribe of five kids. The two eldest, still-in-the-closet-but-only-just boy Krissi (smartly played by Laurie Kynaston) and his sister Johanna (Feldstein), share a room with a makeshift divider in the family’s poky state-owned house.

But Johanna — our irrepressible heroine, whose stream-of-sass voiceover barely pauses for breath throughout and yet is somehow the only way the story could be told given how integral Moran/Johanna’s voice is to the story — has big dreams. Most of them wet ones, but also quite a few about literary ambition as well. Inspired by her wall collage of personal heroes, who in her imagination come to life and give her advice — creating cute cameos for the likes of Michael Sheen (Freud), Great British Bake-Off stars Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc (the Bronte sisters) and Lucy Punch (Sylvia Plath) — Johanna manages to muster the moxie to believe her voice is worth hearing. A prize-winning poem about her dog sent to a local TV show (hosted by Chris O’Dowd) reaps unexpected mixed success, encouraging her to pursue her craft and apply to write for D&ME , a fictional avatar of NME , at that point the leader among several newsprint publications covering pop and rock music at the time (nearly all of which are now extinct).

By dint of having everyone talk very fast, and sparing little expense on sets, supporting actors, costumes and props that only last a scene or two, Moran’s script, Giedroyc’s manic direction and the production manage to condense a lot of incident into 102 minutes that seem to be over in a flash. In the space of that running time, Johanna relaunches herself as libertine lady of letters Dolly Wilde; becomes a new girly-bitchy voice of her generation to the chagrin of her secretly sexist male colleagues; and falls in love with soulful, damaged pop star John Kite (Alfie Allen, showing off a surprisingly expressive singing voice with songs written by Brit band Elbow).

Having proven her musical abilities in the recent revival of Hello, Dolly! and acting skills elsewhere, it’s not really a shock that Feldstein manages to pretty much nail the distinctive Wolverhampton accent. Mind you, she gets a lot of practice because there’s hardly a minute where Johanna isn’t talking, throwing off quips and bon mots like a sparkler on Guy Fawkes night. The lines are all Moran’s but the sexy gutsiness, the twinkly peepers with their Cleopatra eyeliner and the naughty laugh are Feldstein’s to own. She’s an instant icon of body positivity, fat-girl fleshy and proud of it, beaming with joy even after she’s just lost a bloody sanitary pad out of her knickers in the middle of gym class. Like the book and Moran’s writings elsewhere, the film gleefully gets raunchy and real about the female body and mind. As the title suggests, it’s all about exploring how one girl constructs herself piece by piece, and it’s a joyful thing to behold.

One shudders to think how much money producers Alison Owen ( Saving Mr Banks , Jane Eyre ) and Debra Hayward ( Les Miserables , Bridget Jones’s Diary ) must have needed to hustle up in collaboration with music supervisor Nick Angel to pay for the film’s ace soundtrack of Britpop and ’90s bangers — a suitably eclectic collection that encompasses Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It,” the Manic Street Preachers’ “You Love Us” and Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl,” among other treats.

Production companies: A Film4, Tango Entertainment presentation of a Monumental Pictures production Cast: Beanie Feldstein, Alfie Allen, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani, Laurie Kynaston, Joanna Scanlan, Sue Perkins, Mel Giedroyc, Chris O’Dowd, Emma Thompson , Michael Sheen, Lily Allen, Alexei Sayle, Gemma Arterton, Jameela Jamil, Lucy Punch, Sharon Horgan, Andi Oliver Director: Coky Giedroyc Screenwriter: Caitlin Moran, based on her novel Producers: Alison Owen, Debra Hayward Executive producers: Daniel Battsek, Ollie Madden, Sue Bruce-Smith, Tim Headington, Lia Buman, Zygi Kamasa, Emma Berkofsky Director of photography: Hubert Taczanowski Production designer: Amanda McArthur Costume designer: Stephanie Collie Editor: Gary Dollner, Gareth C. Scales Music: Oli Julian Music supervisor: Nick Angel Casting: Shaheen Baig Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) Sales: Protagonist Pictures

102 minutes

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Dan aykroyd defends ‘ghostbusters’ all-female reboot starring melissa mccarthy, kristen wiig, josh hartnett says attending taylor swift’s eras tour helped him understand ‘trap’ concert audience depiction, keanu reeves thanks his mom for “life, for storytelling, for love” at comic-con, marvel reveals ‘fantastic four’ movie title at comic-con, robert downey jr. back as doctor doom for two ‘avengers’ movies, marvel unveils grand plans for ‘avengers,’ ‘fantastic four’ during super-sized comic-con panel.

Election 2024
Entertainment
Newsletters
Photography
AP Buyline Personal Finance
AP Buyline Shopping
Press Releases
Israel-Hamas War
Russia-Ukraine War
Global elections
Asia Pacific
Latin America
Middle East
Election Results
Delegate Tracker
AP & Elections
2024 Paris Olympic Games
Auto Racing
Movie reviews
Book reviews
Financial Markets
Business Highlights
Financial wellness
Artificial Intelligence
Social Media

Review: ‘How to Build a Girl’ is an earnest, edgy delight

This image released by IFC Films shows Alfie Allen in a scene from the comedy “How to Build a Girl.” (Sven Arnstein/IFC Films via AP)

This image released by IFC Films shows Beanie Feldstein in a scene from the comedy “How to Build a Girl.” (IFC Films via AP)

Copy Link copied

Sixteen-year-old Johanna Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein) lives a romantic and exciting life, at least in her imagination. The heroine of “ How to Build a Girl ” has (what she perceives to be) the misfortune of being from Wolverhampton, where everything seems to be dirty and old, where Mr. Darcys are scarce, and opportunities are even scarcer.

Her sweet family is barely getting by. Dad (Paddy Considine) breeds illegal border collies to try to fund a rock career. Mom (Sarah Solemani) has two babies and a bout of post-partum depression. She has a chorus of “friends” on her wall (pictures of Jo March, Elizabeth Taylor, Sigmund Freud, Maria von Trapp, Sylvia Plath and so on) who she talks to for advice, but there’s only so much comfort they can provide especially when all of her living peers make fun of her. So Johanna starts taking steps to make things, and herself, better.

Based on Caitlin Moran’s semibiographical novel, “How to Build A Girl” is a wickedly funny, sweet and vibrantly told coming-of-age story that feels like a teen classic in the making. Feldstein has made a big impression in her relatively young career as the sweet best friend Julie in “Lady Bird” and the overachieving Molly in “Booksmart.” But her turn here as a teenage dreamer turned egomaniac rock critic may just be her best role yet, and that is very much in spite of the fact that her accent takes some getting used to and the actress herself is a full decade older than her character.

Moran herself wrote the screenplay, which crackles with wit and heart and honesty. It is heightened and far too clever for real life, but gets to the truth of what it feels like to be a teenage girl trying to become someone. She is endearingly naive at first, submitting a review of “Annie” to the snobby and all-male music rag Disc & Music Echo (D&ME). But she pivots quickly when she realizes she’ll have to be someone other than who she is to get a shot there.

When she gets her first assignment, she looks at her closet and heavily sighs that she has, “Nothing to wear for who I need to be.” So she trades in her school uniform, oversize plaid shirts and brown locks for some Little Mermaid-red hair, a top hat, fishnets and a brand new pen name: Dolly Wilde.

Johanna gets to be free as Dolly to write and do whatever she wants. In her first interview, following her first-ever flight, she forms an unlikely friendship with pop crooner John Kite (a wonderfully sweet and straightforward performance from “Game of Thrones” alum Alfie Allen). But when her too-earnest writing gets mocked again by her snarky co-workers, she constructs a newer-new model of herself.

“Everyone my whole life has lied to me. A nice girl gets nowhere,” she says. But another word that’s not fit for the wire? That type of girl gets a comeback.

Dolly takes her mean alter-ego too far, of course, disparaging everyone and everything in front of her, from Joni Mitchell and Eddie Vedder to her teachers and family (who she claims are all Ringos and nothing without her). It’s all part of the process of building and rebuilding and she evens herself out eventually.

“How to Build a Girl” was directed by Coky Giedroyc, a prolific English television director with a few film credits to her name. It’s the kind of easy-to-digest, snappy and endlessly watchable film that makes you wonder why she’s not more famous. But perhaps this film will give her that chance.

There’s a lot of content to be streamed at the moment, but make a space in your queue for “How to Build a Girl.” It’s worth it.

“How to Build a Girl,” an IFC Films release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “for sexual content, language throughout and some teen drinking.” Running time: 102 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

'How to Build a Girl' Is a Charming Showcase for Beanie Feldstein | Review

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Every Mia Goth Horror Movie, Ranked

Bruce campbell teases his "pivotal" role in sam raimi's new horror movie [exclusive], 'moral kombat 2 just got a deadly update at sdcc.

If you've seen Booksmart or Neighbors 2 , you know that actress Beanie Feldstein has no problem stealing the show, and now she gets to shine center stage with Coky Giedroyc 's delightful adaptation of Caitlin Moran 's novel How to Build a Girl . The coming-of-age story is a terrific lens in how teenagers work to build an identity and how that identity has to be constantly rebuilt and torn down to find some semblance of honesty, which is tough when your desires and your truths easily conflict with each other. Although the role has comic beats, Feldstein excels at playing the breadth and depth of a young woman cycling through identities and attitudes to find her voice. While there are times where the film can be a bit too cutesy or too direct with its audience, at its best How to Build a Girl feels like Almost Famous melded with a thoughtful look at gender dynamics and finding adulation at a young age.

Set in a small British suburb in the mid-90s, How to Build a Girl follows Johanna Morrigan (Feldstein), a talented young writer looking for adventure and companionship with her closest friends being photos of the intellectuals, heroines, and novelists who adorn her bedroom wall. When her attempts to write honestly get her nothing more than a pat on the head for her good writing, Johanna reinvents herself as crimson-haired firebrand rock critic Dolly Wilde for her local music publication. However, her rock appreciation doesn't sell as well as a venomous pen, so Johanna has to reinvent herself again when she determines that, "A nice girl gets nowhere, but a bitch can make a comeback." Through these various identity shifts, Johanna's true relationships are strained and tested as the sixteen-year-old tries to figure out who she is and who she wants to be.

how-to-build-a-girl-image-beanie-feldstein

Even though the film takes place in the world of rock journalism, Giedroyc plays it fairly sweet and pleasant, allowing Feldstein's performance to dictate the film's emotional beats because she knows we're going to be fully invested in this character. Despite her nerdy-to-cool transformation, Johanna never plays like an archetype, and the film is always at its strongest when it sticks to the emotional realities of a young woman discovering popularity, glamour, sexuality, and her voice, but struggling to work out what's really her and what other people just want to hear. How to Build a Girl wisely notes that a young woman in the public sphere doesn't have the benefit of a being a private writer, and so image and voice are inexorably intertwined. Johanna has all the writing talent in the world, but to get people's attention, she has to become Dolly Wilde, and even that turns out not to be enough.

This could all be rather heavy and overwrought, but Giedroyc uses a light tough and has the benefit of an immensely talented cast that includes Paddy Considine as Johanna's father and Alfie Allen as an alluring young rocker that makes Johanna swoon. But at the core of the film, you've got Feldstein holding everything together, and never needing to play it broad like Neighbors 2 even though How to Train a Girl knows when to be comic. Instead, the strength of her performance comes from vulnerability because the whole character is wrestling with the truth of her identity. Coming-of-age movies can be tough for actors, but Feldstein owns the role completely so that even when Johanna is at her cruelest, she retains our empathy.

how-to-build-a-girl-beanie-feldstein-social

Despite some occasional false notes (no one has ever chastened a group of jerks with a self-righteous speech), How to Build a Girl is a lovely and sweet movie that proves to be a welcome reprieve from these trying times. The movie offers another sterling performance from Feldstein's young filmography and makes its mark on the coming-of-age genre by wrestling with concepts of identity for young women who want to be true to themselves and yet inhabit worlds that give them narrow lanes in which to maneuver. Despite the heavy subtext, How to Build a Girl is a delightful and effervescent picture that will considerably brighten your mood.

Entertainment

Search Please fill out this field.
Newsletters
Sweepstakes
Movie Reviews

Beanie Feldstein becomes an indie-rock it girl in How to Build a Girl : Review

There's never a good time to be a teenager, maybe, but 2020 must certainly be some kind of nadir. In a moment when so many rites of passage — the proms and parties, team sports and social ceremonies — have suddenly been snatched from uncountable students across the globe, it's nearly impossible to say when anything like normalcy will return.

So there can be a strange sort of comfort in watching it all unfold again on screen, even in a relative trifle like How to Build a Girl (on VOD May 8), starring Beanie Feldstein as the book-smart but boy-ignorant Johanna Korrigan, 16 and dreaming of escape from England's drab hinterlands. "I want to burn," she wails to the cutout idols pasted on her bedroom wall. "I want to explode! I want to have sexual intercourse with someone who has a car ."

What she does instead is immerse herself in the Britpop scene of the early '90s, change her name to Dolly Wilde, and start wearing fishnets and top hats to homeroom. (How she manages to land a job freelancing at a London music magazine might seem like the kind of plot twist you only see in cinematic dreams — except that it actually happened to novelist-turned-screenwriter Caitlin Moran , on whose own life story the script is loosely based.)

Being the cool girl with the cruel byline, though, turns out to have a nasty boomerang effect, especially when Dolly starts believing in her own hype. Her new identity as the pen-wielding assassin of indie-rock mediocrity impels her to stay silent when her much older, universally male co-workers mock a group of rock-star hopefuls whose ranks include her own middle-aged father ( Paddy Considine , always great) — and even when they address her, too, less as a human being than as a sort of tipsy cartoon mascot.

Insecurity also leads her to make questionable choices with John Kite ( Game of Thrones ' Alfie Allen), the pensive, unusually sensitive singer-songwriter who becomes the subject of her first major profile, and possibly one of her only real friends in the business — though her new persona does impress the editor of a major metropolitan newspaper (a bemused Emma Thompson ) enough to land her a recurring girl-about-town column in print.

It's clear that director Coky Giedroyc (best known for TV shows like Harlots and The Hour ) has a real sense for the oversized emotions of adolescence — to the point that she often channels it literally into a sort of kooky magical realism. Watching the pinned-up photos on Johanna's wall periodically come alive mostly seems like a winking excuse for celebrity-friend cameos (Lily Allen as Elizabeth Taylor, Jameela Jamil as Cleopatra) and the movie's frequent tonal swings between that kind of surreal whimsy and all-out melancholy often just register as whiplash.

Still, there's a sort of willful energy field between Giedroyc and Feldstein that pushes the story along; the blithe, anything-can-happen thrill that comes from being young in a world where anything is possible — including the right to wreck yourself spectacularly, rebuild, and then start it all over again. B

‘How to Build A Girl’ review: Caitlin Moran’s coming-of-age rock critic story is irresistible

Warm and witty, this adaptation of the British writer's best-selling book, starring Beanie Feldstein, is a charming ode to early '90s teenagehood

Beanie Feldstein’s energy could power a thousand satellite towns, but we know that already, don’t we? In Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated Lady Bird , she played the gawky sidekick and best pal to its titular lead – and stole the show. In this summer’s Booksmart – perhaps the strongest and most moving teen comedy America has produced in the past decade – she effortlessly slipped into the shoes of a high school do-gooder going rogue for the last days before graduation.

She has established an excellent niche for herself: the endearing co-lead blessed with a knife-sharp sense of comedic timing. But in Coky Giedroyc’s How to Build A Girl , we finally get to spend a sumptuous 100 minutes almost entirely in her company. Adapted from Caitlin Moran’s semi-autobiographical novel, the film follows Johanna Morrigan, a 14-year-old from Wolverhampton on her journey to make it big as a red-haired, riotous rock critic named Dolly Wilde in the Big Smoke.

Every music journalist knows the feeling of standing outside a bougie hotel wearing scuffed trainers and a t-shirt that should’ve been washed three days ago. There’s a disconnect between celebrities and those enlisted to tell their stories that lures in the latter in the first place. It’s a world greater, more intriguing than our own; a place where fantasy roams free. That unknown attracts young Johanna to it in the first place. After a failed attempt to make it as a poet, stuttering her way through a sonnet about her love of dogs on local TV competition, her wise, music nut brother Chrissy, played confidently by Laurie Kynaston, hands her the path to her future: a newspaper call-out for critics to write for D&ME, a vaguely familiar-sounding music magazine. She hands them a critique of the musical Annie ‘s soundtrack and, much to her surprise, it works. She stomps into the machismo-heavy offices of the magazine to prove her worth, and before long, she’s got her first gig: reviewing a regional show by the Manic Street Preachers.

It might be a small first step, but it catalyses Johanna’s transformation into Dolly Wilde, a more confident, biting, sexually liberated version of herself who now walks through the street of her hometown with a swagger. But as with all great ascents to regional fame, it has to come crashing down at some point. This familiar low-high-low narrative arch is naturally predictable but perfectly suited to Johanna’s story: her mother and father (played by Sarah Solemani and Paddy Considine) are forced reckon with their 16-year-old daughter’s reckless behaviour. The talking, cut-out portraits on her bedroom wall of legends of history and film she once confided in are now trapped behind her vitriolic takedowns of Paul Simon and Eddie Vedder. What she thinks is a flourishing romance stalls.

Read more: Coronavirus: wholesome movies to watch while self-isolating – and where to stream them

How to Build a Girl offers up a warm familiarity for anyone who came of age with Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and its kin of Brit teen faves. It’s matches the scribbling diaries and lovelorn voiceovers of those films with something a little fresher too: a charming and irresistible love letter to ’90s Northern teenagehood and music journalism’s inky heyday.

Colourful it may have been, but Moran’s script is hellbent on calling out the gross exploitation of power and the barrier that existed – and still does exist – for women and the working classes in the industry. But she does so with a sense of humour: a quality the film unwaveringly sticks to. When an editor asks 16-year-old Dolly to sit in his lap, she jumps on him and flails about like it’s a fairground ride. A later, unpredictable allusion to U2 had the audience in hysterics.

Films like How to Build A Girl don’t exist outside the realm of criticism, but they’re made with an audience rather than movie industry chit-chatter in mind. Sure, it might not be for everyone – I get the impression middle-aged film writers will highlight its simplicity or its sweetness as detrimental qualities (for me they’re both assets) – but it’s all part of the charm. As Dolly herself discovers, being a dickhead about art that isn’t made for you seldom does you any favours. Sometimes it’s better just to loiter at the back and try to enjoy the show instead.

Director: Coky Giedroyc
Starring: Gemma Arterton, Michael Sheen, Emma Thompson
Released: May 8 (VOD, USA – UK release date TBC)

‘How to Build a Girl’ Review: Beanie Feldstein Continues to Dominate the Coming-of-Age Comedy

Kate erbland, editorial director.

Share on Facebook
Share to Flipboard
Share on LinkedIn
Show more sharing options
Submit to Reddit
Post to Tumblr
Print This Page
Share on WhatsApp

Editor’s note: This review was originally published during the film’s festival release, it hits VOD on Friday, May 8.

Johanna Morrigan ( Beanie Feldstein ) is used to not seeing leading ladies like herself — goofy, a little chubby, academically inclined, friendless, super into dogs — in books or movies. Hell, she’s used to not even really seeing herself in her own life, instead whiling away her time dreaming of an existence where she might have the chance to shine (mostly, that means moving away from the dreadfully boring UK council estate she’s grown up in). A poet, a reader, and a follower of such diverse luminaries as Sylvia Plath, Sigmund Freud, and even the fictional Jo March, Johanna has a spark, but absolutely nothing to fan it with.

While most stories like Johanna’s might get a bump from the introduction of a romantic suitor, Johanna isn’t into that either, and as she announces during the energetic introduction to Coky Giedroyc’s winning “ How to Build a Girl ,” her philosophy is more evolved: “I do not think my adventure starts with a boy, it starts with me.” She’s right, and what follows is a smart twist on the coming-of-age comedy.

Adapted by author and journalist Caitlin Moran from her own memoir of the same title, Giedroyc’s coming-of-age comedy picks up with Johanna (some defining details have been lightly changed from Moran’s own life, including the protagonist’s name, all the better to get to the heart of the story) at a crucial juncture in her life. She’s a whip-smart student, but her social life is nil. She’s a talented poet, but even her literally award-winning efforts devolve into points of hilarious shame. She’s mired in fantasy, but aware that it’s all day-dreaming without any action behind it. Basically, she’s a teen.

“I am blessed with a rich internal life!,” Johanna proclaims without a smidge of irony, but even the most basic of her real-world whims are rebuffed (she desperately wants to be close enough with her beloved English teacher to call her by the familiar moniker “Mrs. B,” but even she’s not having it, constantly reminding her prize student to call her by her full name). Imagine Feldstein’s “Booksmart” character without a drop of self-awareness and best described as being just a plain old doofus: that’s Johanna.

Johanna’s social life might be lacking, but at least she’s got a loving brother, Krissi (Laurie Kynaston), who has his very own punk rock zine and a pack of cool friends. When Krissi sees an ad for a young “gunslinger” to write reviews for a London-based rock mag, he encourages Johanna to go for it. After all, her poetry hasn’t panned out lately — thanks to a gut-bustingly funny appearance on a local news show to read her latest, an ode to her dog — and the constantly poor Morrigan clan could use some extra cash. Plucky and unique as ever, Johanna sends off a review of the “Annie” soundtrack (yes) and is pleased to hear back from the hip dudes at the rag, eager to meet her.

They are, of course, making fun of her, but that hasn’t stopped Johanna before, and her mix of writerly skill and absolute lack of shame temporarily endear her to them. Armed with a local assignment and a shocking new look (think Mad Hatter pulled from the local thrift shop, topped off with her signature canine-themed backpack), Johanna’s new life as wily rock critic “Dolly Wilde” gets off to a fine start (it helps that’s surprised to discover she actually likes music). When she finally lands a plum gig — a feature interview with the ridiculously appealing singer John Kite (Alfie Allen) — old Johanna and new Dolly collide in heartbreaking fashion.

Feldstein, despite tripping over the required working-class Brit accent required, inhabits the character with ease, and is measured enough to make the differences between Johanna and her previous coming-of-age characters pop. She’s certainly got a genre that works for her, but she’s adept at finding the shades in very different young women. And, perhaps more importantly, she knows how to find their heart. Other characters don’t get nearly as much attention, with Paddy Considine getting lost as Johanna’s silly father, Frank Dillane cast as an obviously bad-news romantic foil, and Sarah Solemani tasked with playing Johanna’s dead-eyed mom.

Nearly ruined just months into her fledgling career, Johanna is forced to make a choice: stay true to her optimistic spirit or toughen up into a poisoned-penned critic who hates everything. The evolution isn’t subtle, and soon Johanna is literally toasting “to evil!” with her work pals and plastering over her wall of heroes (which come to life, Harry-Potter-portrait style, to advise her) with her own venomous reviews (sample headline: “Bohemian Crapsody”). Johanna’s arc isn’t nearly as unique as her spirit, and while the beats of “How to Build a Girl” become entirely predictable as the film zips along, Feldstein’s charm keeps it enjoyable, while Moran’s trademark humor keeps the laughs coming.

How do you build a girl? Giedroyc’s film offers one answer: with a lot of pain. Johanna may be forced to cycle through the necessary plot points to grow into something new, but the film lets her get ugly and mean and messy on the way there, with Feldstein still winning enough to ensure we’re rooting for her. The adventure starts with her, and she carries it through to somewhere unexpectedly delightful, if not necessary: the shining promise of womanhood, on her terms.

“How to Build a Girl” premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

Most Popular

UK Edition Change

UK Politics
News Videos
Paris 2024 Olympics
Rugby Union
Sport Videos
John Rentoul
Mary Dejevsky
Andrew Grice
Sean O’Grady
Photography
Theatre & Dance
Culture Videos
Fitness & Wellbeing
Food & Drink
Health & Families
Royal Family
Electric Vehicles
Car Insurance Deals
Lifestyle Videos
UK Hotel Reviews
News & Advice
Simon Calder
Australia & New Zealand
South America
C. America & Caribbean
Middle East
Politics Explained
News Analysis
Today’s Edition
Home & Garden
Broadband deals
Fashion & Beauty
Travel & Outdoors
Sports & Fitness
Climate 100
Sustainable Living
Climate Videos
Solar Panels
Behind The Headlines
On The Ground
Decomplicated
You Ask The Questions
Binge Watch
Travel Smart
Watch on your TV
Crosswords & Puzzles
Most Commented
Newsletters
Ask Me Anything
Virtual Events
Wine Offers

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in

How To Build a Girl review: Caitlin Moran adaptation never quite matches up to the talents of its star

Beanie feldstein plays johanna morrigan, who’s inspired by moran’s own experiences as a teen music journalist in the early nineties, article bookmarked.

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey

Get our the life cinematic email for free, thanks for signing up to the the life cinematic email.

Dir: Coky Giedroyc. Starring: Beanie Feldstein, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani, Alfie Allen, Emma Thompson. 15 cert, 104 mins.

Those who are young and running headfirst into the future tend to see the world without walls. It’s a feeling so sweetly captured in the luminous expressions of How To Build A Girl’ s Beanie Feldstein , known for the plucky teens she played in Lady Bird (2017) and Booksmart (2019). This is a film woozy with the natural highs of adolescence – celebrity crushes, mosh pits, unpalatably bold fashion choices.

In reality, Feldstein is 27. She’s off next to play Monica Lewinsky on TV and film the first chunk of Richard Linklater’s Merrily We Roll Along which, a la Boyhood , will shoot intermittently over the next two decades. How to Build a Girl , then, may mark the closing chapter of her onscreen coming of age. And, though the material never quite matches up to her talent, it’s a welcome reminder of how much she’s come to shape the image of teen girlhood in modern cinema.

She plays Johanna Morrigan, a surrogate for writer and journalist Caitlin Moran , who wrote 2014’s How to Build a Girl as a fictionalised account of her experiences as an embryonic music journalist in the early Nineties. Johanna is 16, living in Wolverhampton with her four brothers, a father (Paddy Considine) still daydreaming of rock stardom, and a mother (Sarah Solemani) hollowed out by postpartum depression.

A disastrous appearance on local TV crushes Johanna’s literary ambitions. So, she finds a different lane – the D&ME (a spin on the NME) has put out a call for young critics. The magazine’s staff of haughty, male poshos assume her review of the musical Annie is some kind of prank. It isn’t. The writing’s funny, at least, so they give her a chance.

Under the pen name Dolly Wilde, Johanna reinvents herself as a flame-haired flambeuse in a top hat and corset (the fact she looks ready for an am-dram production of The Greatest Showman is neither here nor there). When her swoony, dewy-eyed profile of Welsh crooner John Kite (Alfie Allen, perfectly sweet and sensitive) is roundly mocked by her editors, she turns to critical savagery. But declaring “Eddie Vedder should do another ripoff of Kurt Cobain and just kill himself” has its obvious consequences. A moral rot starts to set in.

Moran, the film’s screenwriter, has sanitised her own book. Sex here is vanilla, and class consciousness is muted; John’s remark that “it’s a miracle when anyone gets anywhere from a bad postcode” hangs in the air, unscrutinised. In the hands of director Coky Giedroyc, How to Build a Girl offers a world of easy empowerment, where sexism can be laughed off or defeated with a righteous speech.

Here, a bedroom wall plastered with cultural icons like Sigmund Freud and Sylvia Plath (all played by celebrities, including Allen’s sister Lily and Giedroyc’s sister Mel) comes alive with a string of “you go, girl!” platitudes. Its feminist spirit, at times, feels oddly isolated from reality. A rockstar inviting a teenage girl into his hotel suite in the dead of night should set off all kinds of alarm bells – except, in How to Build a Girl , it’s played as dashingly romantic.

And yet, Feldstein’s charms are brilliantly weaponised here. It’s hard to imagine anyone else who could believably sell a dorky, small-town savant’s transformation into poison-penned, “lady sex pirate”. But, with a wink and smile, she makes anything seem possible.

How to Build a Girl is available now on Amazon Prime

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

New to The Independent?

Or if you would prefer:

Want an ad-free experience?

Hi {{indy.fullName}}

My Independent Premium
Account details
Help centre

Den of Geek

How To Build A Girl Review: a Grungy British Answer to The Devil Wears Prada

Caitin Moran’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel is set in the heyday of '90s music journalism

Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
Share on email (opens in a new tab)

Caitlin Moran is kind of a big deal. A multi-award winning journalist, a highly influential feminist after her non-fiction book How To Be A Woman , and now a successful movie screenwriter as her novel How To Build A Girl Comes to the big screen. Or rather it would have, were it not for COVID19, instead the movie lands on Amazon Prime after it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year.

How To Build A Girl is the semi-autobiographical story of Johanna Morrigan, a 16-year-old from a big family growing up in Wolverhampton in the ‘90s. With How To Be A Woman and the TV series Raised By Wolves Moran has told stories of her childhood before but this particular version is centred on her early career as a music journalist. Johanna, played with considerable charm by Beanie Feldstein, is an idealistic teenager who is close to her musician father (Paddy Considine). She’s a gifted writer too and after she enters a reviewing competition writing about the Annie soundtrack she bags a role writing for music weekly D&Me – a stand-in for Melody Maker, which Moran herself began reviewing for when she was just 16.

A lone girl in a world of men, Johanna decides to reinvent herself as Dolly Wilde, a more confident and outrageous version of herself. Dolly learns quickly that in her field passion, honesty and enthusiasm aren’t anywhere near as prized as snark and mockery, churning out one liners like “Jump Around by House of Pain is the kind of music testicles would make” until Dolly becomes a celebrated a-hole.

How To Build a Girl is as much a love letter to the heyday of print entertainment journalism as it is a coming of age tale. Almost like a grungy Brit alternative to The Devil Wears Prada , it’s easy to see how anyone, not least a hard-up teenaged girl, would get seduced by the heady world of parties and awards, access all areas and screaming fans of your own. The dresses get more elaborate, the egos get bigger and something’s got to give.

Ad – content continues below

This is way more than a tale of hubris though. Moran’s script is sharp and funny and peppered with some of her favourite themes – family, class, sex, wanking – and there’s a love story here too. Johanna’s first interview becomes her first major crush in the form of Alfie Allen’s John Kite – not the damaging rock star diva but a genuinely sweet musician played incredibly sympathetically by Allen.

It’s a positive female coming of age story in the vein of Booksmart , which Beanie Feldstein also starred in, and while How To Build A Girl doesn’t have quite as much quirk and flair as that film, director Coky Giedroyc has fun and ups the cameo count via the images of her heroes that adorn Johanna’s walls and offer her sage advice. Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc play the Bronte sisters, Michael Sheen is Sigmund Freud, Lily Allen is Elizabeth Taylor, while Gemma Arterton is an adorable Mari Von Trapp. What she also nails is the very specific intoxicating danger of being a young woman in a world of powerful blokes.

For the most part How To Build a Girl is a good-natured bit of wish fulfilment but where it’s at its strongest is in its absolute refusal to allow Johanna/Dolly, to ever accept a victim role. Her mistakes are her own and she will take responsibility for them in her own way, and the toxic posh boys who run the paper and think they own the world don’t get to define and objectify her in the way they think they can. Feldstein sells the role absolutely. Johanna is joyful and exuberant, arrogant but self-aware (there’s a great bit where she finds herself left off a guest list and exclaims “Don’t you know who I thought I was six weeks ago?!”), and Feldstein even manages to nail the Wolves accent. As a coming-of-age comedy, How To Build A Girl is sweet and funny but as a look at how Moran began to construct the woman she wanted to become, this could have been called Caitlin Begins.

Rosie Fletcher

Rosie Fletcher is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Den Of Geek. She’s been an entertainment journalist for more than 15 years previously working at DVD & Blu-ray Review, Digital…

How To Build A Girl Review

16 Jul 2018

How To Build A Girl

Raw and exuberant is the voice of Caitlin Moran, the seasoned journalist and author who penned both the screenplay for How To Build A Girl and the memoir that loosely inspired it. Therefore her coming-of-age story about a budding music journalist who can quote Ulysses but hasn’t listened to The Rolling Stones required an actress who is theatrical yet likeable; that can play the overachiever without seeming overbearing.

Enter Beanie Feldstein , stepping fresh off the back of her Booksmart breakthrough into her first proper lead role. It’s not hard to make the connection between Feldstein’s two characters; like Molly in Olivia Wilde’s modern teen movie, Johanna draws on the wisdom of pioneering women (her wall is plastered with photos of Elizabeth Taylor and the Brontë sisters) and daydreams about kissing unattainable boys (in this case Alfie Allen , commendably playing the rock star who really listens).

A resounding success as a showcase of Beanie Feldstein’s capabilities.

When writing as her authentic self fails to impress the all-male editorial team at a prestigious magazine, however, Johanna transforms into Dolly Wilde, her churlish alter-ego with cherry-red hair and a caustic tongue who proceeds to blaze an unrelenting trail across the ’90s music journo scene with headlines like “Eddie Vedder should do another rip-off of Kurt Cobain and just kill himself”.

Director Coky Giedroyc employs an occasionally skittish pace to keep up with Johanna’s externalised teen angst with all its door-slams and defiant monologues, which distracts from the story’s more poignant developments. For instance, Johanna belongs to a kind-hearted working-class family (led by a twinkling Paddy Considine ), and the way in which she dissociates herself from them deserves more room to be explored against the privileged, misogynist music scene.

Yet Feldstein’s magnetism persists (even if her accent occasionally falters), and boosted by a well-assembled British cast delivers Moran’s affirming story of self-discovery with ebullient charm.

Movies | 24 07 2020

Movies | 23 06 2020

Movies | 08 04 2020

Movies | 29 08 2019

Movies | 16 07 2018

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – How To Build a Girl (2019)

July 19, 2020 by Tom Beasley

How To Build a Girl , 2019.

Directed by Coky Giedroyc. Starring Beanie Feldstein, Alfie Allen, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani, Frank Dillane, Laurie Kynaston, Joanna Scanlan, Chris O’Dowd, Emma Thompson, Michael Sheen, Jameela Jamil, Lucy Punch, Lily Allen, Gemma Arterton, Sharon Horgan, Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins, Andi Oliver and Bob Mortimer.

A teenage girl from a Midlands council estate becomes a music critic for a major publication, reinventing herself as an acid-tongued columnist.

Every arts critic knows the dopamine rush of writing a vicious review. Nobody wants to dislike a movie or a book or an album, but the writing of a negative review feels like a catharsis – a way to exorcise the bad art from your brain while flexing your writing muscles. So it’s no surprise that the central character of the sprightly new coming-of-age drama How To Build a Girl effectively undergoes a personal metamorphosis when she learns the power of the poisonous pen and begins scything through the world of music with her typewriter dripping metaphorical blood.

But let’s back-track a little. Based on the semi-autobiographical 2014 novel by journalist Caitlin Moran, the film follows 16-year-old Johanna ( Booksmart standout Beanie Feldstein) as she grows up in a crowded house on a council estate in Wolverhampton. When she inadvertently exposes her dad’s (Paddy Considine) illegal dog breeding business, she decides to get a job to keep the family afloat. She submits a review to trendy music mag D&ME and, after they stop laughing, they send her off to a gig in Digbeth – very much the jewel of crappy Birmingham districts – to prove herself.

Feldstein is an interesting choice for the lead role here. There’s no doubting her luminous charisma and exceptional comic ability, but the difficult Black Country accent largely eludes her and so she never seems entirely comfortable in the skin of the protagonist. However, there’s a joy in how she portrays the character’s shift from Johanna to her writing persona of Dolly Wilde. When she submits an overly fawning profile of soulful heart-breaker John Kite (Alfie Allen), Dolly is almost sacked for good, until she turns her attentions to slaughtering sacred cows with gleeful venom. “Bohemian Crapsody” is one of her more choice headlines.

One of the joys of How To Build a Girl is that Johanna’s shift into Dolly feels entirely organic as she tries to find her place in the world, away from the societal confines of her upbringing. Feldstein excels as a woman who blunders in with sheer enthusiasm to everything in the hope of being understood and appreciated, exploring herself creatively, sexually and personally, for good and for ill. She’s a character who could cross over into being unlikable, but Feldstein’s innate relatability is deployed to great effect. Even when her behaviour is tough to justify, there’s a twinkle in her eye that reveals the ultra-earnest teenage girl beneath the persona.

The film also benefits from an incredible supporting cast. Considine’s brilliant work as Johanna’s father is the obvious standout, but Frank Dillane also shimmers as a slimy co-worker with questionable romantic feelings for Johanna. There’s also a cavalcade of cameos in the form of a shrine to famous women on Johanna’s bedroom wall, including Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc as two of the Brontë sisters, Gemma Arterton as Maria Von Trapp and Sharon Horgan as Jo March from Little Women . Chris O’Dowd and Joanna Scanlan also get eye-catching appearances as, respectively, the presenter of the charmingly parochial TV show “Today in the Midlands” and Johanna’s long-suffering teacher.

There’s something, though, that’s a little loose and ill-disciplined about the movie. Moran’s script, helmed by telly veteran Coky Giedroyc, is a little ramshackle and messy, evidently attempting to pack in a tonne of incident while maintaining the clothing of a light, frothy comedy. Its most obvious bedfellow is the freewheeling 2000 classic Almost Famous and this movie lacks the exquisite sense of place that kept Cameron Crowe’s madly overlong film afloat. Moran also provides a rather corny coda in which Feldstein directly addresses the audience, making explicit an idea the movie had already communicated admirably.

But none of that prevents How To Build a Girl from being a charming, light-footed comedy about the awkwardness of being a teenage girl – especially of a creative bent. Feldstein’s charming performance overcomes her wobbly West Midlands accent and the revolving door of supporting cameos provides plenty of fun amid the rather rickety storyline. If nothing else, the pun work on Dolly Wilde’s negative reviews is simply a delight to behold. “Bohemian Crapsody” is just the tip of an enjoyably petty iceberg.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Tom Beasley is a freelance film journalist and wrestling fan. Follow him on Twitter via @TomJBeasley for movie opinions, wrestling stuff and puns.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

The Rare Movies That Actually Need A Remake!

Ten Controversial Movies and the Drama Around Them

Godzilla at 10: The Movie That Launched the MonsterVerse Revisited

How Marvel’s X-Men ’97 Returned the Mutants to Their Glory

An Exploration of Bro Camp: The Best of Campy Guy Movies

Ranking Every Friday the 13th Movie From Worst to Best

The Pink Panther at 60: The Timeless Comedy Caper Revisited

Essential Forgotten Films Well Worth Seeking Out

Horror Video Games We Need As Movies

Big Daddy Turns 25: The End of Golden Age Adam Sandler

Comic Books
Video Games
Toys & Collectibles
Articles and Opinions
About Flickering Myth
Write for Flickering Myth
Advertise on Flickering Myth
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

For Parents
For Educators
Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

Get the app
Movie Reviews
Best Movie Lists
Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best TV Lists
Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
Common Sense Selections for TV
Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

Book Reviews
Best Book Lists
Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Game Reviews
Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Podcast Reviews
Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

App Reviews
Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

YouTube Channel Reviews
YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

How to Talk with Kids About Violence, Crime, and War

Family Tech Planners
Digital Skills
All Articles
Latino Culture
Black Voices
Asian Stories
Native Narratives
LGBTQ+ Pride
Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

How to build a girl, common sense media reviewers.

Edgy coming-of-age comedy has mature content, sex, language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Importance of staying true to yourself, not sellin

Johanna is initially portrayed as sweet and naive,

A character is hit with a book. Instances of verba

Sexual intercourse is depicted on-screen numerous

Frequent strong language includes variants of "f--

Main character buys things for their family when t

Characters regularly smoke cigarettes. Alcohol --

Positive Messages

Importance of staying true to yourself, not selling out to fit in. Themes of self-sufficiency, confidence, integrity are central. Some acts of selfishness, as well as references to weight and class.

Positive Role Models

Johanna is initially portrayed as sweet and naive, but quickly learns that sarcasm and bad behavior get her more attention. Male music journalists are seen as sexist, sometimes cruel. At home, Johanna's father is supportive but tries to leverage her success to boost his own, while her mother is dissociated and absent, which is blamed on postnatal depression.

Violence & Scariness

A character is hit with a book. Instances of verbal bullying, sexual harassment in the workplace. Mention of shooting a snail with an air rifle. "Rape" is used in reference to bad music "raping the ears." Remark about being kicked in the testicles. Discussion of death of a parent, suicide, overdoses. An on-screen suicide attempt involving a compass in which small cuts are shown. A gun is shot from a building. A trash can is set alight.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sexual intercourse is depicted on-screen numerous times -- including some nudity from behind -- as is kissing and masturbation. Same-sex kissing. Periods are mentioned and a used sanitary product shown. Talk of sexual positions, orgasms, oral sex, breasts, penises, hymens, losing virginity.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent strong language includes variants of "f--k," along with "s--t," "bulls--t," "d--k," "bastard," "a--hole," "twat," "bitch," "frigging," "arse," and "bloody." Other language includes "demented," "balls," "bone," and "jail bait." Homophobic references in "lezza" and "puffy."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Main character buys things for their family when they begin to make money, but specific brands are not referenced other than a brief mention of Guinness.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters regularly smoke cigarettes. Alcohol -- Guinness, whiskey, beer, gin, and wine -- is consumed in bars, offices, hotel rooms, outside, at home. Characters are seen to be drunk. Mention of alcoholism and drugs.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that How to Build a Girl is an edgy teen coming-of-age comedy based on Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical novel about a 16-year-old girl who dreams of a career as a writer. It has tons of strong language, as well as sexual acts and references. As she journeys toward self-realization, Johanna Morrigan ( Beanie Feldstein ) is thrown into a world more mature than her years. Her behavior goes off the rails: She stays out on school nights, plays truant, drinks, explores her sexuality, and is rude to her parents and cruel to others in order to get ahead. Expect very frequent use of "f--k," plus scenes of simulated sex and masturbation, an on-screen suicide attempt, and a scene involving bailiffs removing possessions from the family home. Topics such as the death of a parent, suicide, alcoholism, mental health issues, and sexism are discussed in mature ways. There are also jokes at the expense of a character's weight and class, as well as homophobic language. All of that said, Johanna will be relatable to many teens, and the film includes a lot of humor to keep it light, even as its message hits home. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (1)
Kids say (1)

Based on 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In HOW TO BUILD A GIRL, innocent and naive 16-year-old Johanna Morrigan ( Beanie Feldstein ) dreams of becoming a writer. She finally gets her big shot when she applies to work on a music magazine. Desperate to flee her working-class roots and start a life in the big city, she creates a new identity as Dolly Wilde, an acid-tongued girl-about-town who doesn't care who she offends as long as her articles are a hit. Falling into a world of drinking and debauchery, she travels to review gigs and interview bands, falling in love with singer John Kite ( Alfie Allen ) and enjoying her new-found fame and popularity. But as she burns more and more of her old bridges and gradually discovers her new life and the "cool" people around her are not everything she expected, she must make a choice about who she really is and who she wants to be.

Is It Any Good?

Transporting you back to the 1990s, this movie brings to life the monotony of the teenage experience in vast contrast to the excesses of a thriving music scene. How to Build a Girl is adapted from British writer Caitlin Moran's bestselling novel based on her own experiences as a young music journalist. It's quirky, with director Coky Giedroyc adding some fun visual touches, such as the icons on Johanna's wall -- including Sylvia Plath, Julie Andrews, Sigmund Freud, and Karl Marx -- coming to life to converse with the troubled teen. These enable fabulous cameo appearances from the likes of Michael Sheen and Gemma Arterton , while Emma Thompson plays Johanna's editor, Amanda.

Though her experience is extraordinary, the character of Johanna is relatable, if a little one-dimensional. American Feldstein doesn't do badly with the British regional accent. But she doesn't quite breathe the life into the character that she's managed in previous films -- notably Booksmart . However, How to Build a Girl is raw and funny in places, and the audience remains on Johanna's side, even as she turns to the dark one herself. Overall, this is a light but heartfelt coming-of-age comedy that teens will both relate to and, in some places -- possibly the wrong ones -- aspire to.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how sex is depicted in How to Build a Girl . Do you think the graphic sex talk is meant to be realistic or shocking? What's the difference? What values are imparted?

Discuss the teen drinking and smoking in the movie. Are they glamorized? Do the characters need to do these things to look cool? What are the consequences ?

Discuss the strong language used in the movie. Does it seem necessary or excessive? What does it contribute to the movie?

Talk about how Johanna's character changes and what she learns about herself along the way. Which two people does she hurt the most, and how does she make amends? Can you think of a time when you've had to make amends for something?

Movie Details

On DVD or streaming : August 11, 2020
Cast : Beanie Feldstein , Alfie Allen , Paddy Considine
Director : Coky Giedroyc
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : IFC Films
Genre : Comedy
Topics : Book Characters
Character Strengths : Integrity , Perseverance
Run time : 102 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : sexual content, language throughout and some teen drinking
Last updated : June 20, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Blinded by the Light

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Almost Famous

Fighting with My Family

The Commitments

Sing Street

The History Boys

Coming-of-age movies, indie films, related topics.

Perseverance
Book Characters

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

‘How to Build a Girl’ Film Review: This Time, Beanie Feldstein Comes of Age as a Mean British Rock Critic

Based on Caitlin Moran’s semi-autobiographical novel about becoming a teenage rock writer, the film is like “Almost Famous” if Cameron Crowe had been British, female and much snottier

“I’ve read every book in this library,” says frustrated 16-year-old Johanna Morrigan in the opening scene of “How to Build a Girl.” “But I can’t find a story about a girl like me.” That line sets up the movie even as it winks at the audience, which knows it’s about to see a movie about a girl exactly like Johanna.

And that means it’s about a girl a lot like Caitlin Moran, a British journalist and broadcaster who wrote the script based on her own semi-autobiographical novel about her days as a teenage rock critic in the early 1990s. Think of it as “Almost Famous” 20 years later, if Cameron Crowe had been British and female – and much, much snottier.

“How to Build a Girl,” which premieres on demand on Friday, May 8 after losing its IFC theatrical release to the coronavirus, is the first theatrical feature in 24 years for Coky Giedroyc, who has spent the past two decades working on television shows like “Harlots,” “Oliver Twist,” “Blackpool” and “Penny Dreadful.” The film manages to overcome some whiplash-inducing storytelling as long as you cut it some slack – which most people will be inclined to do, because it’s also a breezy and funny showcase for Beanie Feldstein, who’s done her share of coming-of-age comedies over the last few years and this time moves her act to the British town of Wolverhampton.

That means that Feldstein, who’s playing a character about a decade younger than the actress is, not only learned to speak in a distracting but necessary British Midlands accent but to imitate Scooby Doo in one.

The opening credits say the film is “based on a true(ish) story,” and it follows the rough outlines of Moran’s teenage years as she described them in the book. But a lot of that book was fictionalized, and the movie veers away from the book in additional ways – so it’s probably safe to think that the (ish) is every bit as important as the true.

Johanna Morrigan, the Moran stand-in, is a bright high-school overachiever who’s sure she’s going to be a writer someday, though she isn’t sure what kind of writer she’ll be. When her teacher asks for a five-page essay, Johanna writes 33 pages – but for all her academic zeal, her social skills are abysmal, and her daily life is a series of small and large humiliations.

Back home in a cramped house with her mother, father and four brothers, Johanna turns for inspiration to the wall above her bed, on which she’s taped photos of her heroes who, conveniently, come to life and give her advice. (It’s not always good advice, but still.) The icons include Elizabeth Taylor, the Bronte Sisters, Sigmund Freud, Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music” and Sylvia Plath, who are played by Lily Allen, Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, Michael Sheen, Gemma Arterton and Lucy Punch, respectively; others, like David Bowie and Frida Kahlo, remain photos on the wall.

The “what kind of writer am I going to be?” question is answered, improbably enough, when Johanna answers an ad by a music magazine by sending them an impassioned review of the soundtrack to “Annie.” Thinking it’s a put-on, the hipper-than-thou staff calls her in for an interview and laughs at her – but after a ladies-room pep talk from a poster of Bjork, Johanna storms back into the office and lands an assignment to review a Manic Street Preachers concert.

Even more improbably, the magazine – the fictional D&ME, meant as a stand-in for British music rags like NME and Melody Maker, the latter of which gave Moran her start – lets her get away with a review that begins, “At 9 p.m. last night, rock ‘n’ roll meant nothing to me. By midnight it was the most important thing in my life.” (And she’s serious: This is a “rock critic” who, we are told, had never listened to the Rolling Stones.)

But aided by a thrift-shop fashion makeover accomplished on a budget of nine pounds and set to Bikini Kill’s punk anthem “Rebel Girl,” the suddenly confident Johanna Morrigan turns into “Dolly Wilde,” rock journalist. In short order, Dolly is making lots of money, a nifty trick when the publication is paying you 10p a word for record and concert reviews.

(Full disclosure: I was once a teenage rock critic myself, and I was broke when I made about 10 cents a word for L.A. Times record reviews.)

But things are going well for Johanna until she decides she wants to write features, too – and on a trip to Dublin to interview a hot singer named John Kite (“Game of Thrones” star Alfie Allen, oozing irresistible emo sincerity), she falls head over heels in love. Her resulting story may be well written, but it’s so gushy that Johanna stops getting assignments from D&ME, which much prefers snark to gush.

But Johanna is nothing if not adaptable, and if she needs to rebuild Dolly Wilde as an acid-tongued monster, so be it. With a new credo – “A nice girl gets nowhere, but a bitch can make a comeback” – Johanna/Dolly reemerges with an endless supply of withering put-downs and an array of headlines that include “Bohemian Crapsody” and “Hello and F— Off!”

Reinvented as the bad girl of rock journalism, Dolly becomes a star in short order – but hell, everything in the movie happens in short order. She’s mean to everybody off the page, too, walking out of school and humiliating her parents because she pays the rent. She also has lots of very enthusiastic sex, which is kind of disconcerting: If the film wants to make a statement about body positivity and a healthy attitude toward sex, maybe the good Johanna should get a turn, too.

In truth, “Dolly” is a terrible rock critic who also rips her colleagues for not believing what they write, an ironic criticism coming from a person who saved her own career by choosing to hate everybody. The more Johanna becomes an unfeeling beast, the clearer it is that the movie is bound to go looking for her heart – it’s just a little surprising when it comes as quickly as it does, immediately after she trashes virtually everybody in her life.

Then again, the entire story unfolds with questionable alacrity: Johanna reinvents herself three times in about an hour, and Feldstein pretty much sells it every time, partly because things never slow down long enough for you to start questioning what’s going on. “I became evil,” Johanna tells her wall of heroes, “but it’s July now, and I’m over it.”

If you stop look at it too closely, “How to Build a Girl” definitely doesn’t ring true, not that it’s always supposed to; at the same time, the way it rushes from silly to vicious to sappy can put you in a tonal whirl. But it’s also fun, and not insignificant in the way it puts an unconventional heroine on screen and then gives her the agency to act both stupid and smart as she sees fit.

After all, you don’t have to buy the details of this particular story to understand that it’s a good thing to have it in the library.

Action/Adventure
Children's/Family
Documentary/Reality
Amazon Prime Video

More From Decider

R.I.P. Shannen Doherty: '90210' & 'Charmed' Actress Dead at 53

Bette Midler Tearfully Shuts Down Hoda Kotb's Questioning During Emotional...

Were Rats Scurrying Across The Screen In 'The Bachelorette' Season 21...

Netflix Basic Plan Discontinued: Is Netflix Getting Rid Of Its Cheapest...

Michael Strahan Returns To 'Good Morning America' After Two Weeks Off The...

'The Bear' Season 3 Review: Carmy Secures His Role as The Chairman of The...

R.I.P. Martin Mull: 'Clue' & 'Roseanne' Star Dead at 80

Every Kevin Costner Movie Is A Western (Even When They're Not)

Beanie Feldstein Nails The Quirky Steampunk Girl Persona in ‘How to Build a Girl’

HOW TO BUILD A GIRL, center: Beanie Feldstein

Where to Stream:

How to Build A Girl
beanie feldstein

'Merrily We Roll Along' Movie Will Be "Technically A Third of the Way Through" Filming This Year, Says Richard Linklater

‘turtles all the way down’ star cree steals every scene as the hilarious bff, ben platt shuts down idea of 'glee' reboot with beanie feldstein on 'wwhl': "we should leave 'glee' be", stream it or skip it: ‘drive-away dolls’ on peacock, ethan coen's unquenchably horny lesbian road movie.

Most of us probably knew a girl like Beanie Feldstein in How To Build a Girl at one point or another. The new coming-of-age film from IFC—which released digitally today and is now available to purchase on-demand—finds Feldstein as a steampunk British teen writer who finds her voice at the expense of others. It’s not quite the role you might expect for the Booksmart actor, and the English accent does take a while to get used to. But slowly but surely, the character of Johanna Morrigan grows on you—even as she’s self-destructing left and right.

Based on the 2014 novel by Caitlin Moran—who loosely based the story on her early writing career and also wrote the script and directed by Coky Giedroyc, How to Build a Girl tells the story of Johanna Morrigan, a 16-year-old British girl who feels stuck in her life in Wolverhampton, England. It’s the ’90s, and her working-class family consists of 4 brothers, a mother suffering from post-partum depression (Sarah Solemani), and a father obsessed with a rock career that never happened (Paddy Considine). Johanna escapes the madness by daydreaming conversations with her favorite intellectual heroes, like Jo March (Sharon Horgan), Sylvia Plath (Lucy Punch), and Sigmund Freud (Michael Sheen). But it’s not enough.

She applies for a gig as a music critic at a local rock magazine. Her humorous review of “Tomorrow” from Annie gets her an interview; her moxie and her appeal to predatory men get her the job. She quickly falls in love with rock n’ roll—if not the music, then at least the lifestyle. She buys new clothes, dyes her hair, and rebrands herself as “Dolly Wilde.” When her gushy review of the dreamy rock star (Alfie Allen) she’s in love with nearly costs her job, she rebrands her personality, too. She pulls no punches in her reviews, declaring everyone’s music—from Pearl Jam to her own father—worthless drivel. (Never mind the fact that she’s only just learned about the genre a few months ago, and hasn’t even heard the Stone’s most famous album.) As she tells anyone who will listen: Being a bitch pays the rent.

Johanna Morrigan is not at all your typical coming-of-age character, especially when it comes to coming-of-age characters for young women. Sure, she’s bookish and romance obsessed. But she’s also dangerously self-destructive, depressingly narcissistic, and downright cruel at her worst. She’s deeply flawed in a way you don’t often see young women get to be on screen, but I’m willing to bet you’ve seen plenty of times in real life. Her over-the-top outfits—corsets, tutus, miniskirts, bridal dresses, fishnets, and an ever-present top-hat—act as an armor against the world, but it’s easy to see how insecure and lonely she is. When a crowd of musicians boos Johanna, and she cheerfully tells them, “Your hate is delicious,” I thought, I know you.

She’s not particularly someone you’d want to be friends with, but she’s endlessly watchable, especially in Feldstein’s hands. The 26-year-old actor hits all the right notes, and there are a lot of them, for a character as rich as this—innocence, bravado, heartbreak, anger, shame, neurosis, egomania… the list goes on. She, and the film, really hit their stride when Johanna gives over completely to the dark side, a place that finds Johanna accepting an award for biggest asshole of the year, and telling a heckler to “sit on his own goddamn face.” Honestly, I could watch Feldstein strut around in knee-high leather boots and yell at men for hours. For those scenes alone, Johanna Morrigan is an instantly iconic character that should have been in the pop culture lexicon years ago. As it is, I am glad she’s here now, and I’m glad it was Feldstein who ultimately brought her to life.

Where to watch How to Build a Girl

Prime Video

'Live's Kelly Ripa Tells Rob Lowe He's "Failed As A Parent" After Learning That His Son Has "Never Seen" 'St. Elmo's Fire': "Culturally, The Most Important Movie Of All Time"

Kelly Ripa Admits To "Inappropriate" Backstage Interaction With Mark Consuelos On 'Live': "If We Weren't Married, I Would Probably Be Fired Right Now"

When Will 'Heartland' Season 18 Premiere In The United States?

Whoopi Goldberg Shuts Down Claim That Kamala Harris Is A "DEI Hire" On 'The View': "Women Of Color Freak People Out"

Who Is The "Greedy" Co-Star Mindy Cohn Claims "Wrecked" 'Facts Of Life' Reboot?

'The View' Says Trump "Probably Thought" J.D. Vance Calling Him "America's Hitler" Was A "Compliment"

‘How to Build a Girl’ Review: Combine Rock-Critic Snark With Coming-of-Age Tale

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

This film adaptation of Caitlin Moran semi-autobiographical 2014 novel How To Build a Girl, about a teen rock critic who learns to grow past her own cosmetically-applied cynicism, is never as wicked, winning and bruisingly comic as it needs to be. But lead actress Beanie Feldstein is all that and more. If you haven’t yet fallen under her spell courtesy of Booksmart, Lady Bird or her singing to Stephen Sondheim during his YouTube-streamed 90th birthday celebration , here’s your chance. She gives wings to this smartass U.K. comedy set in the early 1990s, which starts streaming on May 8th after debuting last year at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Born in Los Angeles (she’s Jonah Hill’s kid sister), Feldstein tries on a working-class Brit accent to play Johanna Korrigan, a 16-year-old teacher’s pet whose goal is getting out of the shabby Wolverhampton projects. That’s where she’s crammed in with four brothers — the babies are twins — plus her overworked mother Angie (Sarah Solemani) and her dad Pat (Paddy Considine), who illegally breeds border collies to support his delusion of rock stardom. In the room she shares with her brother Kris (Laurie Kynaston), Johanna covers the walls with photos of her idols, from Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud to Elizabeth Taylor and Julie Andrews, each of whom talk her through her various traumas about being the fat girl who’s invisible to popular lads.

The animating plot device is an ad Johanna answers to write for D&ME ( Disc & Music Echo ), a fictional pop-rock rag that’s looking for “hip young gunslingers.” Johanna hardly fits the bill, and she submits a review of the Annie soundtrack that’s roundly mocked by the all-male staff. But the joke’s on them. D&ME takes on Johanna for the hell of it, even sending the office “jailbait” to Dublin to interview balladeer John Kite, sweetly and sharply played by Alfie Allen, a.k.a. Theon Greyjoy on Game of Thrones. Watching Kite in front of a cheering audience, Johanna falls instantly in love with the singer and with rock & roll. The resulting puff piece is jeered back at the magazine. As an editor burned out on imitators tells her, “our job is to napalm the parasites.”

Editor’s picks

Every awful thing trump has promised to do in a second term, the 250 greatest guitarists of all time, the 500 greatest albums of all time, the 50 worst decisions in movie history.

And so begins the transformation of Johanna into Dolly Wilde, the evil queen of music journalism whose takedowns make her something of a celebrity. On Paul Simon: “He looks like a big toe with a face drawn on it.” And: “Eddie Vedder should do another ripoff of Kurt Cobain and just kill himself.” There are scrappy possibilities in the atmospherics of 1990’s British rock-reporting run by posh snobs who measure their worth in snark. Instead, the movie runs on the formula track as Johanna/Dolly indulges in mild sexual experimentation — she kisses a girl and encourages a foot fetishist. Worse, she betrays Kite’s friendship by exposing his private life in print. It’s revenge for his sensibly rejecting her because of the age difference. When her family criticizes the new her, Johanna turns on her dad, mum and brother by saying, “you’re Ringo, you’re Ringo, you’re Ringo.”

It’s funny — as is a lot of this eager-to-please, all-over-the-place movie — thanks to the dry snap of Moran’s dialogue and Feldstein’s exhilarating performance. Up next as Monica Lewinsky in an FX series about the Clinton impeachment, you get the feeling this 26-year-old star can do anything. When Emma Thompson shows up as a publishing guru who offers Johanna the chance to write a regular column about her self-realization, there’s no need. That’s the movie we just watched, and Feldstein makes it irresistible. How to build a girl, indeed.

Star Trek: See Trailer for 'Discovery' Spinoff Movie 'Section 31' Starring Michelle Yeoh

By Daniel Kreps

Dan Aykroyd Looks Back: Making 'The Blues Brothers,' Hiding John Belushi's Cocaine, and More

By Brian Hiatt

Robert Downey Jr. to Play Doctor Doom in Two ‘Avengers’ Films

By Althea Legaspi

'Didi' Captures the Pain, Confusion and Adrenaline Rush of Being 13 All Too Well

MOVIE REVIEW
By David Fear

Jeremy Allen White Says He and Bruce Springsteen Have 'Texted' Ahead of Biopic Portrayal

Playing the Boss
By Tomás Mier

Most Popular

Ryan reynolds met madonna in person to ask if 'deadpool & wolverine' could use 'like a prayer,' and she had one 'great note' after watching the scene, just stop oil activists who threw tomato soup at van gogh's 'sunflowers' get prison time, robert downey jr. back as doctor doom for two 'avengers' movies, kaley cuoco’s daughter tildy is glowing with happiness in a doggy dress, you might also like, teamsters and basic crafts unions reach tentative deal on new contract, ariana grande embraces 1960s styling in white boatneck dress and statement sunglasses at 2024 paris olympics with cynthia erivo and baz luhrmann, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, marvel moves forward by going backwards, announcing robert downey jr. and the russo brothers’ return to the mcu at comic con, olympic beach volleyball sand is money at eiffel tower venue.

Screen Rant

Deadpool & wolverine: 100 marvel easter eggs & references explained.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Why X-23 Has Lost Her Accent In Deadpool & Wolverine

Who plays lady deadpool in deadpool & wolverine, deadpool & wolverine box office has record-setting opening weekend, best since spider-man: no way home.

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine features over 100 Easter eggs from the MCU and Fox universes, making it a love letter to superhero movies in general.
The film includes Deadpool humming the MCU fanfare, references to Disney's Fox purchase, and a multiverse adventure full of major cameos.
The movie includes Wade's hunts for Wolverine variants, encounters with the TVA, multiple X-Men villains, and a battle against the entire Deadpool Corps filled with cameos at the film's end.

Deadpool & Wolverine literally has over 100 different Easter eggs, references, and cameos. The latest entry into the expansive MCU, Deadpool & Wolverine is a wild and unhinged multiversal adventure starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, while also being a genuine love letter to the Marvel movies produced by 20th Century Fox as well as to superhero movies in general. To that end, there's a non-stop legion of exciting eggs and references to be enjoyed.

Needing a variant Wolverine to save his universe, Deadpool's desperately trying to save those he cares about before a faction of the Time Variance Authority destroys his entire reality. This results in an epic adventure for Deadpool & Wolverine , which sees the dynamic duo interacting with major elements from the MCU, Fox's X-Men universe, and beyond. As such, here are all the Easter eggs, references, and cameos we managed to find in Marvel's new Deadpool & Wolverine .

100 Deadpool Hums MCU Fanfare

Beginning of movie.

The movie begins not only with a shot of Deadpool within the classic Marvel Studios animated logo, but also with Deadpool himself humming along to the epic fanfare that has played before MCU films since 2016.

99 Disney Purchasing Fox

Marvel studios got the x-men rights in 2019.

Screen Rant reveals the news that Disney has bought Fox

Deadpool briefly goes over the very real possibility that a third Deadpool movie might not have happened, due to Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox back in 2019 with the X-Men rights going back to Marvel Studios. Thankfully, it all worked out.

98 Desecrating Logan’s Grave

Wade digs up wolverine's adamantium bones.

Laura walks away from Wolverine grave in Logan

Deadpool addressed the concerns about how the new movie would respect the legacy of Logan by shockingly desecrating Wolverine's grave, appearing just as it did in the 2017 movies with the cross Laura Kinney leaned on its side to become an iconic X.

97 Various Crimes Against The Sacred Timeline

Deadpool 2's post-credits.

Deadpool using the time travel watch in Deadpool 2

The TVA arrives to arrest Deadpool, citing his various crimes against the Sacred Timeline, many of which come from Deadpool 2's post-credits scene when Wade rewrote time to save his friends and loved ones.

96 207 Bones Gossip Girl Joke

Referencing blake lively.

Blake-Lively-as-Serena-van-der-Woodsen-from-Gossip-Girl-and-Blake-Lively-as-Emily-Nelson-from-A-Simple-Favor-and-Blake-Lively-as-Lily-Bloom-from-It-Ends-with-Us--

Before Deadpool uses Logan's adamantium bones as weapons, he confirms that while there are 206 bones in the human body, he has 207 when he watches Gossip Girl (starring Reynolds' wife Blake Lively).

95 Avengers Compound

Sacred timeline on earth-616.

An aerial shot of Avengers Compound during the day

Rewinding before his battle with the TVA, Wade is seen at the Avengers Compound on Earth-616, interviewing for a position with the Avengers back in 2018, presumably before the events of Avengers: Infinity War .

94 Happy Hogan Cameo

Deadpool's avengers interview.

Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan smiling in Spider-Man Far From Home

Deadpool's interview is with none other than Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan who briefly cameos in the new Marvel movie (his 9th MCU appearance).

93 Stark Tower With Hulk Hands

Smash- what now.

During his interview, Deadpool reveals that he's been to Stark Tower while wearing Hulk hands (and performing some NSFW acts).

92 Every Easter Egg in Happy Hogan's Office

Tons of memorabilia from past mcu movies.

Happy's office is full of relics and iconic props from past MCU movies. Here's a full list of everything that can be found:

Every Easter Egg in Happy Office
Captain America Shield Prototype Iron Man 2
Pepper Potts Forbes Magazine Cover
Agent Coulson’s Captain America Cards
Mark 2 Iron Man Helmet
Engraved Arc Reactor From First Iron Man
Tony Stark and Peter Parker Photo (Covered By Kids Iron Man Helmet)
Ultron Iron Man Mask
Iron Man Mark V Briefcase
Stark Expo Poster (1943)

One of the most creative eggs is the photo of Tony Stark with Peter Parker first seen in Endgame , though Spider-Man is blocked by a toy Iron Man helmet, the very same worn by the kid from Iron Man 2 who retroactively became a young Parker . As such, it's a clever way to feature Tom Holland's Webslinger while also dodging licensing issues with Sony.

91 X-Force and Cable

Didn't test well with focus groups.

Deadpool confirms that X-Force and Cable didn't test well with focus groups, seemingly his explanation as to why they're not featured as heavily in Deadpool & Wolverine (and in Cable's case not at all).

90 Earth-10005

The fox x-men universe.

Most of the cast of the Fox X-Men movies flanked by images of the Avengers.

The Fox universe receives its official multiversal designation as Earth-10005.

89 “Sugarbear”

Peter's deadpool 2 nickname.

Deadpool saving Peter in Deadpool 2's post-credits scene

Wade calls Peter "Sugarbear", the same nickname he gave Peter in Deadpool 2 .

88 Deadpool 1 & 2 Cast

Wade's birthday party.

Deadpool with Blind Al and Buck in Deadpool and Wolverine trailer

The majority of the characters from Deadpool & Deadpool 2 are featured at Wade's birthday party. This includes Vanessa, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio, Blind Al, Buck, Dopinder, and Shatterstar.

87 No Speaking Lines For Buck

Referencing deadpool 2.

Deadpool still won't let Buck have any speaking lines, having messed up his one line in Deadpool 2 .

86 "Hi Yukio"

Running deadpool 2 joke.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio celebrate at Wade's party in Deadpool and Wolverine

Deadpool really does enjoy saying Yukio's name, and the running gag continues in Deadpool & Wolverine.

85 Do You Want To Build a Snowman?

From disney's frozen.

Frozen Anna Knocking on Elsa’s Door Do You Want To Build A Snowman

A great joke based on a real-life note from Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, cocaine was seemingly off-limits for the movie. As such, Deadpool declines all of Blind Al's offers to do coke even with her special nicknames, including "Do You Want To Build A Snowman", referencing Disney's Frozen .

84 Great British Bake-Off

A conversation with colossus.

Cutting cake on The Great British Bake Off

During Wade's party, Colossus shares that he's been watching The Great British Bake-Off , a show that Deadpool claims got him through some very dark times.

83 Angel of the Morning - Juice Newton

Plays during wade's party.

The opening song from the first Deadpool , Juice Newton's "Angel of the Morning", can be heard playing during Wade's party.

82 Captain America MCU Scenes

Courtesy of the tva.

Wade Wilson Salutes Captain America Footage at the TVA in Deadpool & Wolverine Trailer

Recruiting by the TVA, several of the monitors playing scenes from the MCU are heavily focused on Chris Evans' Captain America. Not only does this tee up a key twist later in the movie, but it also ties into Deadpool's canonical love for Steve Rogers in the comics.

81 Thor Holds Deadpool

A potential secret wars tease.

Chris Hemsworth's Thor in Thor: The Dark World and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine

One monitor uses repurposed footage from Thor: The Dark World with the God of Thunder holding Deadpool instead of Loki. Teased by Mister Paradox to be a moment from the distant future, it could be a future scene from Avengers: Secret Wars .

Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: All the Biggest Moments From the Games’ Kickoff

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 26: Smoke billows near windows as performers participate during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Bernat Armangue - Pool/Getty Images)

After braving political chaos, major train disruptions and threats of defecating in the Seine, the Paris Olympics are finally about to kick off under cloudy skies.

Zizou Kicked Things Off

Then things went gaga.

After the opening video, Lady Gaga took over headline proceedings and on a flamboyant note, giving a colorful performance of Renée Jeanmaire’s “Mon Truc en Plumes” (My Thing With Feathers). She was accompanied by a troupe of dancers from the revered Moulin Rouge cabaret and played on a piano floating down the Seine. Although this marks the first time Gaga has performed at the Olympics, she has sang in French before – Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose — in Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born.” This is to be her biggest performance to date, topping her 2017 SuperBowl Halftime Show.

Celine Dion Brought it All to a Tear-Jerking Close

As had been widely – and excitedly — touted in the days leading up the event, Celine Dion made a spectacular and emotional comeback performance as the opening night ceremony drew to a close, her first live show since disclosing that she had a rare medical disorder in 2022. The Canadian icon and Queen of Power Ballads didn’t just sing Edith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour,” but did so halfway up the Eiffel Tower and beneath a set of giant Olympic rings. No, you’re crying!

Vive La Rock!

In a segment dedicated to the French revolution, local metal icons Gojira pulled out their angular guitars for a head-banging performance alongside French-Swiss opera singer Marina Viotti. Adding to the dramatic display, they appeared in front of castle while cannons belched out fire.

‘Pookie’ on the Pont

French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, who ranks as the world’s most popular contemporary French-speaking artist, sang her two biggest hits, “Pookie” and “Djadja,” whose lyrics were laced with Aznavour’s “Ma Boheme” and “For Me Formidable.” Dancing and singing on the Pont des Arts, she was accompanied by the orchestra of the French Republican Guard and 36 choristers from the French Army.

There were some exquisitely choreographed dance performances throughout the entire show, most taking place all along the Seine. From a high-kicking Moulin Rouge show by dancers kitted out in pink, to an extreme splashy display featuring hundreds of performers in a fountain and one in which dancers looking like hotel bellboys pushed around large Louis Vuitton cases (LVMH is a sponsor, of course). There were also some quieter individual performances, including a ballet display on a rooftop.

Parkour Mystery?

A trip to the minions.

In a special segment dedicated to French filmmaking, there were nods to the Lumiere Brothers and their groundbreaking “The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station” (the one where people thought the train was coming through the cinema screen) plus Georges Méliès sci-fi classic “A Trip to the Moon.” But much of the time was devoted to more contemporary icons of local cinema, the banana-loving, nonsense-talking yellow creatures known as the Minions. While the “Despicable Me” franchise may be produced by Universal’s U.S. animation powerhouse Illumination, at the helm has been French filmmaker Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin, who co-directed four films and provided most of the Minions iconic voices. In honor of this — and perhaps Illumination’s French tax rebate — an extended and specially-made animation was shown in which Kevin, Stuart, Bob and co attempted various sports in a submarine (with predictably disastrous results).

Gender Balancing Act

Kicking off the first ever gender-balanced edition of the Olympics, the ceremony also fittingly celebrated 10 French female icons, including philosopher Simone de Beauvoir; Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who championed abortion rights in France; Louise Michel, a 19th century political activist and leader of the French anarchist movement; Olympe de Gouges, an 18th century social reformer and playwright; Alice Milliat, a pioneer of women’s sport; Gisele Halimi, a Tunisian-French lawyer and feminist; and Alice Guy, the first female filmmaker, among others. These women were feted as part of the Sororité, Sisterhoo tableau. Jolly said “the French national anthem becomes a symbol of unification and a call to pay tribute to the women of France’s history, represented by 10 golden statues emerging from the Seine.” Last time Paris hosted the Paris Olympics, in 1902, there were only 2% of female athletes. Estanguet said inclusiveness was a key goal for these Olympics.

100m Drag Race

Fashion was — of course — a part of the Olympic festivities, with a special section towards the end involving a red-carpeted catwalk over a bridge on which various models and celebrities showcased the work of young French designers while local DJ-producer Barbara Butch took care of the music. Alongside the DJ various stars of “Drag Race France” were spotted, including contestants Paloma and Piche and host Nicky Doll. The “Assassin’s Creed”-y parkour athlete also turned up on the runway, performing some impressive one-handed cartwheels (he was still carrying the Olympic flame).

Rain (and LeBron James in a Plastic Poncho)

More from variety, katy perry teases sixth album ‘143’ with features from doechii and 21 savage, plus a crystal waters sample, why is bytedance considering a move that burned so many tech giants, katy perry announces sixth album ‘143’ and shares release date, katy perry explains the ‘sarcasm’ intended in her over-the-top ‘woman’s world’ video, why verizon’s latest play could make it the netflix of streaming bundlers, katy perry’s ‘woman’s world’ fails to crack top 10 and debuts at no. 63 on billboard chart, more from our brands, buttigieg tells fox viewers that maga is a cult, the new ducati panigale v4 s superbike is a polarizing powerhouse, olympic beach volleyball sand is money at eiffel tower venue, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, olympics 2024: how to watch nbc online.

Cast & crew

Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in Babygirl (2024)

A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern. A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern. A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern.

Halina Reijn
Nicole Kidman
Harris Dickinson
Antonio Banderas
1 nomination

Intern Rose

Uber Driver

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

2024 Venice Film Festival Guide

December 20, 2024 (United States)
United States
Netherlands
New York City, New York, USA (street scenes)
Man Up Film
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 54 minutes

More to explore

COMMENTS

How to Build a Girl movie review (2020)
The film hits the high notes of what it feels like to write passionately into late-night hours and the thrill of a writer's first printed byline, as well as the lows of making rookie mistakes and feeling like a failure. While at first glance "How to Build a Girl" may have a lot in common with Cameron Crowe 's coming-of-age classic ...
How to Build a Girl
A smart and ambitious teen reinvents herself as a music critic. Buy How to Build a Girl on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV. Led by Beanie Feldstein's charming performance, How to Build a ...
'How to Build a Girl' Review: Write On
How to Build a Girl. NYT Critic's Pick. Directed by Coky Giedroyc. Comedy. R. 1h 42m. Find Tickets. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an ...
How to Build a Girl
How To Build A Girl is a charming, funny, raunchy, even sweet coming-of-age tale. Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 1, 2022. Even in the film's busier, messier moments, Feldstein is ...
'How to Build a Girl' Review
Like the book and Moran's writings elsewhere, the film gleefully gets raunchy and real about the female body and mind. As the title suggests, it's all about exploring how one girl constructs ...
'How to Build a Girl': Film Review
Yet, "How to a Build a Girl" dares to argue that reinventing yourself doesn't make you a poseur - the lowest of all insults, especially in the mid-'90s, when the film is set. It's a ...
Review: 'How to Build a Girl' is an earnest, edgy delight
Based on Caitlin Moran's semibiographical novel, "How to Build A Girl" is a wickedly funny, sweet and vibrantly told coming-of-age story that feels like a teen classic in the making. Feldstein has made a big impression in her relatively young career as the sweet best friend Julie in "Lady Bird" and the overachieving Molly in ...
How to Build a Girl Movie Review: Beanie Feldstein Shines in ...
Set in a small British suburb in the mid-90s, How to Build a Girl follows Johanna Morrigan (Feldstein), a talented young writer looking for adventure and companionship with her closest friends ...
How to Build a Girl review: Beanie Feldstein becomes indie-rock it girl
So there can be a strange sort of comfort in watching it all unfold again on screen, even in a relative trifle like How to Build a Girl (on VOD May 8), starring Beanie Feldstein as the book-smart ...
How to Build a Girl
Johana Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein) is a bright, quirky, 16-year-old who uses her colorful imagination to regularly escape her humdrum life in Wolverhampton and live out her creative fantasies. Desperate to break free from the overcrowded flat she shares with her four brothers and eccentric parents, she submits an earnestly penned and off-beat music review to a group of self-important indie ...
How to Build a Girl (2019)
How to Build a Girl: Directed by Coky Giedroyc. With Beanie Feldstein, Cleo, Dónal Finn, Paddy Considine. A teenager living with her working-class family on a council estate in Wolverhampton, England, grows up to become a popular but conflicted music journalist.
'How to Build A Girl' review: Caitlin Moran's coming-of-age rock critic
Adapted from Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical novel, the film follows Johanna Morrigan, a 14-year-old from Wolverhampton on her journey to make it big as a red-haired, riotous rock critic ...
'How to Build a Girl' Review: Beanie Feldstein ...
Giedroyc's film offers one answer: with a lot of pain. Johanna may be forced to cycle through the necessary plot points to grow into something new, but the film lets her get ugly and mean and ...
How To Build a Girl review: Caitlin Moran adaptation never quite
Under the pen name Dolly Wilde, Johanna reinvents herself as a flame-haired flambeuse in a top hat and corset (the fact she looks ready for an am-dram production of The Greatest Showman is neither ...
How To Build A Girl review
The coming of age story about an aspiring teenage rock critic from Wolverhampton is based on the bestselling book by Caitlin Moran. How To Build A Girl begins in a library, and if the film wasn ...
How To Build A Girl Review: a Grungy British Answer to The Devil Wears
Reviews How To Build A Girl Review: a Grungy British Answer to The Devil Wears Prada. Caitin Moran's semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel is set in the heyday of '90s music journalism
How to Build a Girl
How to Build a Girl is a 2019 coming-of-age comedy film directed by Coky Giedroyc, from a screenplay by Caitlin Moran, based on her 2014 novel of the same name.The film tells the story of Johanna Morrigan, an aspiring music journalist in 1990s Wolverhampton. It stars Beanie Feldstein, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani, Alfie Allen, Frank Dillane, Laurie Kynaston, Arinzé Kene, Tadhg Murphy ...
How To Build A Girl Review
Release Date: 16 Jul 2018. Original Title: How To Build A Girl. Raw and exuberant is the voice of Caitlin Moran, the seasoned journalist and author who penned both the screenplay for How To Build ...
Movie Review
How To Build a Girl, 2019. Directed by Coky Giedroyc. Starring Beanie Feldstein, Alfie Allen, Paddy Considine, Sarah Solemani, Frank Dillane, Laurie Kynaston, Joanna Scanlan, Chris O'Dowd, Emma ...
How to Build a Girl Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 1 ): Kids say ( 1 ): Transporting you back to the 1990s, this movie brings to life the monotony of the teenage experience in vast contrast to the excesses of a thriving music scene. How to Build a Girl is adapted from British writer Caitlin Moran's bestselling novel based on her own experiences as a young music journalist.
'How to Build a Girl' Film Review: This Time, Beanie Feldstein Comes of
"I've read every book in this library," says frustrated 16-year-old Johanna Morrigan in the opening scene of "How to Build a Girl." "But I can't find a story about a girl like me."
How to Build a Girl Review: Beanie Feldstein Nails The Quirky ...
Based on the 2014 novel by Caitlin Moran—who loosely based the story on her early writing career and also wrote the script and directed by Coky Giedroyc, How to Build a Girl tells the story of ...
'How to Build a Girl' Review: Combine Rock-Critic Snark With Coming-of
Sven Arnstein/IFC FILMS. This film adaptation of Caitlin Moran semi-autobiographical 2014 novel How To Build a Girl, about a teen rock critic who learns to grow past her own cosmetically-applied ...
Deadpool & Wolverine: 100 Marvel Easter Eggs & References Explained
Deadpool & Wolverine literally has over 100 different Easter eggs, references, and cameos. The latest entry into the expansive MCU, Deadpool & Wolverine is a wild and unhinged multiversal adventure starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, while also being a genuine love letter to the Marvel movies produced by 20th Century Fox as well as to superhero movies in general.
Hunting Tips, Gear Reviews, Best Places to Hunt
Here we cover hunting tips, season reports, gear reviews, trips ideas, and stories. Become an 1871 Club Member today to get the F&S journal, a $15 merch store reward + exclusive benefits.
Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: Biggest Moments and Performances
Years in the making, this opening ceremony has been envisioned as the French answer to the Super Bowl, boasting pop legends such as Lady Gaga, who has been spotted rehearsing with a grand piano ...
Babygirl (2024)
Babygirl: Directed by Halina Reijn. With Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, Jean Reno. A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern.

Movie Reviews

Monica Castillo

Now playing

Family Portrait

Tomris Laffly

Despicable Me 4

The Convert

A Quiet Place: Day One

Revoir Paris

How to Build a Girl (2020)

Writer (based on the novel by)

Cinematographer

Latest blog posts

Retrospective: Jean-Pierre Melville and the Cinematic Hitman

Netflix's The Decameron Sinks to New Lows

Silents Synced Pairs Silent Classics with '90s Alt-Rock (It’s a Gen-X Thing)

Time Bandits Offers a Fun Summer Diversion

‘How to Build a Girl’ Review: Write On

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Email not verified

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

How to Build a Girl Reviews

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

site categories

Leslie Felperin

Related Stories

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Review: ‘How to Build a Girl’ is an earnest, edgy delight

'How to Build a Girl' Is a Charming Showcase for Beanie Feldstein | Review

Every Mia Goth Horror Movie, Ranked

Beanie Feldstein becomes an indie-rock it girl in How to Build a Girl : Review

Related Articles

‘How to Build A Girl’ review: Caitlin Moran’s coming-of-age rock critic story is irresistible

You May Also Like

‘How to Build a Girl’ Review: Beanie Feldstein Continues to Dominate the Coming-of-Age Comedy

Most Popular

UK Edition Change

Thank you for registering

How To Build a Girl review: Caitlin Moran adaptation never quite matches up to the talents of its star

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey

Join our commenting forum

Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article

How To Build A Girl Review: a Grungy British Answer to The Devil Wears Prada

How To Build A Girl Review

Related Articles

Movie Review – How To Build a Girl (2019)

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

The Rare Movies That Actually Need A Remake!

Ten Controversial Movies and the Drama Around Them

Godzilla at 10: The Movie That Launched the MonsterVerse Revisited

How Marvel’s X-Men ’97 Returned the Mutants to Their Glory

An Exploration of Bro Camp: The Best of Campy Guy Movies

Ranking Every Friday the 13th Movie From Worst to Best

The Pink Panther at 60: The Timeless Comedy Caper Revisited

Essential Forgotten Films Well Worth Seeking Out

Horror Video Games We Need As Movies

Big Daddy Turns 25: The End of Golden Age Adam Sandler

Or browse by category:

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Common Sense Selections for Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

How to Talk with Kids About Violence, Crime, and War

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

A Lot or a Little?

Positive Messages

Positive Role Models