Movie review: Lady Bird

THIS is essentially a story about a teenager struggling to find her own place in the world, which leads to so many disagreements with her over-protective, and sometimes critical, mother.
High-school student Christine (Saoirse Ronan) struggles to be noticed in her Catholic school. One of the ways she tries to stand out is by calling herself Lady Bird.
She runs for elections constantly despite having no desire to actually win, and longs to go to college in New York rather than closer to home in Sacramento, which is what her mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf), would prefer.
Lady Bird goes so far as to apply for colleges in New York behind Marion’s back, with help from her father Larry (Tracy Letts).
Meanwhile, best friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein) is a sweet overweight girl who usually plays second fiddle to Lady Bird, until she starts excelling in maths and joins the school musical.
Lady Bird falls for Danny O’Neill (Lucas Hedges) who is part of the theatre group, but is devastated after finding out he is gay.
She then tries desperately to be part of the in crowd when she becomes attracted to the seemingly-cool Kyle (Timothee Chalamet), and then dumps Julie for the school’s bad girl Jenna (Odeya Rush).
The story is an interesting take on teenage rebellion, but the best parts are when mother and daughter face off.
Although they love each other, they also bring out the worst in each other.
The only reason we can relate to it is because of Ronan and Metcalf’s brilliant performances.
Lady Bird is shown exclusively at TGV cinemas.