Essentially an R-rated Afterschool Special about the junior-high perils of conformism, cliquism, peer pressure, piercings, thongs, drugs, and all the rest, but especially drugs. More specifically: how a "nice" girl (Evan Rachel Wood, ever so nice in Little Secrets), a sensitive poet and a pal to the studious quiet Asian type, falls under the spell of the "hottest" girl in school (fifteen-year-old newcomer Nikki Reed, who collaborated on the script with first-time director Catherine Hardwicke). The visual style, with its grainy, jiggly, zoomy, zigzaggy image, is as trend-conscious as any teenager, giving the film an air of complicity (or even of favor-currying), and sacrificing credibility. Holly Hunter is outstanding as the struggling mother, rising to her greatest heights at the climax: reeling in reaction to the evidence of her daughter's self-mutilation, then gathering her forces, going on the offensive, smothering all resistance. (2003) — Duncan Shepherd
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