The most surprising element of First Girl I Loved is the appearance of some very funny people, such as Tim Heidecker and Pamela Adlon, in roles that are not particularly funny.

Instead, First Girl I Loved teeters on melodrama, but mainly manages to stay effective, due to some very impressive set pieces in an otherwise straightforward experience. The lead, Dylan Gelula, is very effective as Anne, (strange name for this character), mostly by looking stunned all of the time. Gelula is essentially playing her character of Xanthippe from Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Gelula is very believable as an outcast teenager who joins the yearbook club to profile, but really to get closer to softballer Sasha (Brianna Hildebrand, perhaps best known as Negasonic Teenage Warhead from Deadpool but acting nothing like that).

The best sequences in Kerem Sanga’s film work really well, an iPhone sequence that borders on erotic, an extended scene set to a Metric track, (We’ll let you guess which one), and an ending that actually feels believable. The film threatens to dissolve into fluff, but enjoyable fluff. Certainly recommended for high school students.

[star v=35]