Soundtrack To Sixteen * Love Yourself And Soon You’ll Find People Who Will Love You
Soundtrack to Sixteen is a coming-of-age film about two anxious teens growing up in London in the 2000s. Maisy is self-conscious and constantly overanalyzing. She is obsessed with having her first kiss this year, before she turns seventeen, but stalking the boy next door doesn’t seem to be working. Meanwhile Ben, a boy from a nearby school, is happy being a nerd and thinking he’s better than everyone else until his grades start plummeting. For the first time he must come face to face with the idea that he might, in fact, be average. When the two meet each other on the night bus things get even more confusing for them as they attempt to navigate their first potential romance under the stress of exams that will define their future.
KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Heather S. comments, “Soundtrack To Sixteen is a film every teen can relate to! Simple and easy to connect to watching these teens experience what it’s like to fall in love and go against the status quo. You’ll fall in love with these relatable characters.” See her full review below.
Soundtrack To Sixteen
By Heather S., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 15
Soundtrack To Sixteen is a film every teen can relate to! Simple and easy to connect to watching these teens experience what it’s like to fall in love and go against the status quo. You’ll fall in love with these relatable characters.
The storyline follows teens Maisey (Scarlett Marshall) and Ben (Gino Wilson), two socially awkward teens navigating the world and trying to find their place in it, while falling in love with one another. The film is accompanied by rock music and voice overs provided by the main actors as their characters’ thoughts.
This film accurately represents the lives of teens for which finding their place in the world is difficult and they feel awkward and out of place. It’s so refreshing to watch two characters go through their daily life experiences, and watching ourselves in them. The soundtrack is incredible. It’s as if the songs represent the thoughts and emotions of the characters – all wild and crazy. The romance between Ben and Maisey is something very peaceful to watch, almost comforting. In society, it’s rare to have a Romeo and Juliet romance. Watching these two characters have a calm relationship, get to know one another and still have insecurities is so beautiful because it’s the relationship the majority of us experience. I really love the opening credits; they’re a perfect way to open up the movie. It gives a wonderful introduction to the actors, and the unique sketches of the characters set the tone for the rest of the film. The perfect way to describe this movie is hilarious and definitely a feel-good flick.
The moral of the story is to love yourself and soon enough you’ll find people who will love and relate to you. Maisey was always left out of her friend’s group and, once she stopped worrying about trying to fit in, she meets Ben, who loves her for who she is. Ben, on the other hand, feels as though he needs to pretend to be someone he’s not. His worries are quieted when he meets Maisey.
I give Soundtrack to Sixteen 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 14 to 18. Playing at Fort Lauderdale Film Festival November, 2021.
