The Edge of Seventeen
STX Entertainment | Release Date: November 18, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
34
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 17, 2016
Unfolding like a symphony of small humiliations, there isn’t a moment in this movie that doesn’t feel at least vaguely familiar, and there isn’t a moment in this movie that doesn’t feel completely true. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangNov 17, 2016
Written and directed by the gifted first-timer Kelly Fremon Craig, and graced by a superb star turn from Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen is the rare coming-of-age picture that feels less like a retread than a renewal. It’s a disarmingly smart, funny and thoughtful piece of work, from end to beginning to end. Read full review
90
New York Daily NewsAriel ScottiNov 15, 2016
Steinfeld is brilliantly able to weave together a character who's both typical and yet surprising in her multidimensional emotions that Nadine slowly works through. She's not a cookie-cutter character. Read full review
88
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 21, 2016
If nothing else, The Edge of Seventeen should make Steinfeld a shoo-in for the teen movie young-restless-and-hilarious Hall of Fame. At the very least, the humanity she gives this young woman on the verge helps the movie teeter on the edge of being an instant classic. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireNov 17, 2016
The Edge of Seventeen is a strong successor to Hughes’ legacy with its mix of biting humor and bittersweet heart. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 17, 2016
With a smart, perceptive script from first-time director Kelly Fremon Craig and an arresting lead performance by Hailee Steinfeld, the film rises to the top of a crowded genre. Read full review
83
MTV NewsAmy NicholsonNov 17, 2016
At a time when judgment and self-righteousness outrank forgiveness and empathy, Nadine is the heroine we need. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattNov 17, 2016
Thankfully, Fremon Craig’s script is smart and sensitive enough not to gloss over the real pain lurking beneath Nadine’s bravado as she deals with the aftermath of her dad’s death, her best friend’s betrayal, and the fact that the right guy (Hayden Szeto) might not be the one with the best bangs. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerNov 16, 2016
Despite its upstart distributor and relatively low-key cast, it’s an unabashedly mainstream movie; compared with edgier, more indie versions of onscreen American youth, it might even look a little pat. Read full review
83
The PlaylistKimber MyersNov 16, 2016
Steinfeld’s performance and the script from Kelly Fremon Craig have created a young woman who feels entirely familiar, while never feeling like a retread of the other teenagers who have walked the cinematic high school halls before her. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly RichardsNov 28, 2016
A very strong debut by writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig deals with all the usual teenage concerns — dating, family, school — in a way that tries to go beyond genre cliché, with a heroine who is often unlikeable but always believable. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeNov 28, 2016
As a memorable teen character, she’s almost up there with Cher from ‘Clueless’ or Ellen Page’s Juno. Watch and wince. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekNov 21, 2016
The Edge of Seventeen is particularly perceptive in how it deals with teenage sex—maybe even with sex in general. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushBritt HayesNov 18, 2016
It’s the kind of movie that only comes around once every decade or so, but it’s well worth the wait. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen HoldenNov 17, 2016
[Ms. Steinfeld] manages a tricky balancing act, making Nadine simultaneously sympathetic and dislikable. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoNov 9, 2016
The Edge Of Seventeen boasts an emotional journey filled with wit, humor and heart, resting easy on the back of Hailee Steinfeld's dynamite performance. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanSep 17, 2016
It’s a teen movie that starts off funny ha-ha but turns into something more like a light-fingered psychological thriller. The drama is all in Nadine’s personality, in how far she’ll go to act out her distress. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschSep 17, 2016
Fast, full-hearted and graced with a beautifully modulated lead turn by Hailee Steinfeld, the movie takes the risk of playing it straight and sincere — and the risk pays off. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesNov 16, 2016
I recognized a lot of my younger self in The Edge of Seventeen. It’s crummy that teenagers just shy of 17 won’t get the same chance. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 18, 2016
The best teen comedy since the heyday of Hughes, raunchier and randier as befits the passing decades, but with kids just as mixed-up as ever, and over exactly the same things. Teen angst never goes away, it just deserves a witty updating every now and then. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzNov 17, 2016
If hell is other people, then high school is a four-year journey through all nine levels of Dante-ish misery. But while most teen-centric films skip over this harsh reality, The Edge of Seventeen embraces it with a refreshing zeal. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesJimmy GeurtsNov 17, 2016
It continually finds some added depth and shading to its familiar setup and it's hard to not appreciate a movie that's content to be a solid, unpretentious genre entry, especially for a first outing. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldNov 17, 2016
The Edge of Seventeen, in its R-rated way (booze and sex play supporting roles), is a sweetheart — just like Erwin. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayNov 17, 2016
Snarky and sensitive in just the right measure, what initially looks like a glib exercise in adolescent mortification has the nerve to dig a little deeper. And it winds up mining a little bit of wisdom and compassion in the process. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJody MitoriNov 17, 2016
One of the pleasures of Edge of Seventeen is it makes you nostalgic for high school yet so relieved it’s over. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelNov 17, 2016
The Edge of Seventeen is funny and tragic, but most of all it feels real in the same way John Hughes movies felt real. It's not a candy-coated version of teenagedom. It's harsh, and awkward, and funny, just like being a teenager. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoNov 17, 2016
This is less a throwback to cutely misunderstood Molly Ringwald than to “My So-Called Life” — but with our high-school heroine stuck in a spiral like Claire Danes never knew. Read full review
75
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerNov 16, 2016
The Edge of Seventeen has more than enough earnestness of heart to make up for its structural shortcomings. It’s a teen film with an uncommonly honest ear for interactions. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 16, 2016
While The Edge of Seventeen does deliver on the promise of being funny, it’s mostly dead serious and deserving of respect and attention. It’s far from the usual thing — and better than the usual thing. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanNov 15, 2016
I can’t think of a single situation where Kelly Fremon Craig, who makes her feature debut as a writer-director, takes us to a place we haven’t often been. Yet she lays out her heroine’s dilemmas with good humor and understanding. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayOct 23, 2016
The smartest thing about Kelly Fremon Craig's teen dramedy is its measured take on its protagonist's theatrics. Read full review
75
The Film StageDaniel SchindelSep 19, 2016
The Edge of Seventeen isn’t John Hughes for a new generation – it’s much more honest than that. Read full review
70
SlateKaty WaldmanNov 22, 2016
Each stop is ever so slightly better than you remembered. Not another teen movie, indeed. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 17, 2016
The film is not a classic of the genre, but it definitely falls into the upper echelon of the “worthy entry” category, and Steinfeld and Harrelson worthier still. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithDec 20, 2016
Clearly no stranger to John Hughes movies, writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig brings a spiky wit and a warm-hearted, nerd-friendly finale to a comedy that wants for nothing but a little substance. Read full review
60
Village VoiceApril WolfeNov 16, 2016
The scenes that work just make me ache for more of them, signaling that if Craig finds her groove, she’ll be a force to reckon with. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 17, 2016
Fremon Craig doesn’t radically alter the conventions of the coming-of-age narrative, and so a general predictability settles over the proceedings pretty quickly. With that said, though, she does a good job observing the relationships between her central characters. Read full review
50
The New YorkerRichard BrodyNov 15, 2016
Only Hailee Steinfeld’s committed performance as Nadine, a troubled high-school junior in Oregon, and Woody Harrelson’s deft turn, as a teacher who helps her, make this thin and cliché-riddled comic drama worth watching. Read full review
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