The new film The Half of It (Netflix) feels like few other teen movies. Set in the rural, socially conservative town of Squahamish, Washington, it doesn't show anyone shopping, or having sex, or using social media.
Teenagers don't gather at school dances, but at church. Squahamish isn't Pleasantville; it's not an artificially wholesome suburbia outside of time.
It's just another place where the adults don't need to tell their children to not expect too much from life — they already know.
It's debatable whether anyone even really falls in love. Our sensible protagonist Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) says at the start of her tale, "This is not a love story — or not one where anyone gets what they want," and she keeps her promise.
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