Dude

Director: Olivia Milch
Year Released: 2018
Rating: 0.5

A group of high school-aged pals from California, alpha Lily (Lucy Hale), demure Chloe (Kathryn Prescott), foul-mouthed Amelia (Alexandra Shipp) and sassy Rebecca (Awkwafina) struggle to get through their senior year and all it entails (relationships, worrying about acceptances to colleges) while mourning the tragic death of Chloe's brother Thomas (Austin Butler). I'm not sure if director Milch meant the title as some kind of joke, since her female 'protagonists' do bear some 'stereotypically male' traits - they talk openly about defecation, they burp, they smoke more weed than Snoop, Rebecca wears a leather jacket, Amelia has a shaved head, they have tattoos and 'crave sex' - but there's an air of fraudulence to the project, since it's so artificially constructed (and so very desperate to be 'hip' and 'modern'): none of the ladies are particularly 'likeable' and when they name drop historical figures ("Kierkegaard is my jam!") it's straining to be sophisticated (unlike Clueless, it also forgets to entertain). Lily, in particular, is repellent - she's narcissistic, impulsive and childish ... and she's the main character. Anyone who thinks their teen years are a legitimate challenge never spent a second as an adult.