Synopsis
The journey of Midlands teenager Johanna Morrigan, who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde: fast-talking, lady sex-adventurer, moves to London, and gets a job as music critic in the hope of saving her poverty stricken family in Wolverhampton. Based on Caitlin Moran's bestselling semi-autobiographical novel.
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Cast
- Beanie FeldsteinJohanna Morrigan
- Paddy ConsidinePat Morrigan
- Sarah SolemaniAngie Morrigan
- Alfie AllenJohn Kite
- Frank DillaneTony Rich
- Laurie KynastonKrissi Morrigan
- Arinzé KeneKenny
- Tadhg MurphyAndy Rock
- Ziggy HeathDerby
- Bobby SchofieldPricey
Recommendations
- 80
The Hollywood Reporter
As fun as a night in the mosh pit with your best mate ... Directed by Coky Giedroyc with a fizzy vibrancy and supercharged by Feldstein's intense charisma, this crowd-pleasing comedy has smart things to say about class, sex and female identity. - 80
The Guardian
What a thoroughly likeable and funny film. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The nerd’s coming-of-age is a well-established genre, as is humiliation comedy, yet Coky Giedroyc’s How to Build a Girl is different enough to stand out. - 75
IndieWire
A smart twist on the coming-of-age comedy. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Adapted by Caitlin Moran, from her own semi-autobiographical novel, it’s both a dead-on take on what it’s like to be a young critic as well as a smart movie about class and 1990s culture. - 70
Screen Daily
The trouble with a high-stakes “small” British project like this is that everyone involved tends to want to play it safe. - 70
Vanity Fair
Winning and funny, while also a bit surface-level and predictable, it is an excellent case for the twin powers of Feldstein and Caitlin Moran, the author who adapted her own autobiographical novel to the screen. But it also fails to make the best use of either woman; Feldstein is significantly hampered by a working class British accent, while Moran’s unforgettable comic voice doesn’t come through nearly enough. - 70
Rolling Stone
It’s funny — as is a lot of this eager-to-please, all-over-the-place movie — thanks to the dry snap of Moran’s dialogue and Feldstein’s exhilarating performance.
