This was kind of a random Netflix watch but it came out today and I was awake so I gave it a shot. This is a Portuguese-language Brazilian teen comedy with all the awkward teen romance/drama you’d expect. I wonder if it’s really all that far off from a Kissing Booth movie… but I want to say it is because I rather enjoyed it (at least more than those movies).

The flick is about an awkward teen girl (who sweats a lot and apparently has a lot of invisible facial hair) who moves to a new school and has to start over finding new friends. Which she does but also makes the standard issue enemies of the mean girls. And she’s crushing on at least two guys, one the hunka hunka burnin’ surfer dude who’s dating the Queen Bee.

The long and short of it is that I was engaged and I really enjoyed and felt for the lead actress. She is, of course, actually fairly cute and charming but has to play ugly ducking in the standard issue way.

The flick has a good ultimate message even if the resolution gets a little cheesy and maybe doesn’t fully earn the sentiment. It isn’t an elevated or profound teen film – it has no deeper message than treat other people well. But that’s hardly a crime. This is a fun if fairly breezy movie.

Score: 81