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Hailee Steinfeld (Oscar nominee for the Coen Brothers’ True Grit remake) stars as a high school girl on the edge of a nervous breakdown when she discovers her best and only friend has begun dating her brother. Writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig beautifully captures the isolation, anxiety, desperation, and pervasive helplessness of adolescence here, and without letting the film get too dark and dreary. Supporting player Woody Harrelson brings some welcome, darkly comic relief as one of Steinfeld’s beleaguered teachers. And I also want to give Craig credit for making a film that centers around the problems of a teenage girl without scapegoating teenage boys. The Edge of Seventeen is a sensitive, effective, and ultimately uplifting coming-of-age movie, carried brilliantly on Steinfeld’s shoulders. And you don’t have to be a teenager to get something out of it — some of life’s lessons are good for all time.

With Kyra Sedgwick and Blake Jenner (Everybody Wants Some!!).