Just as Stevie Nicks once sung about sorrow, The Edge Of Seventeen ties teenage angst with lonesome grief in a way that’s all-too real (and somehow delightful). Kelly Fremon Craig’s debut – while rooted in tragedy – blasts light through darkness, and works to build characters who navigate raw minefields full of suffering. We’ve all endured the torture of puberty, grasping helplessly onto slippery ropes that eventually lead to self-discovery, but Craig tunes into adolescent ambivalence with more humor and heart than most.

It’s this abandonment of lovey-dovey mentoring that appreciates the imperfections of life, staged against pitch-black wit introduced through a scene-one suicide confession (obvious over-dramatics, but a prime start nonetheless). The Edge Of Seventeen is a plea for those who feel hopelessly alone, and a reminder that high school is but a phase – even if, in those years, it seems like the end of days.

Hailee Steinfeld...