Netflix’s Moxie – A Solid Feminist Dramedy (Early Review)

Feminist stories and their messaging have always been an important part of cinema and they continue to be important to this day. More and more, these stories continue to find places in the mainstream. 2019’s Booksmart made a huge splash in terms of female stories and representation in front of and behind the camera. Moxie is another film that hopes to follow in the former’s footsteps. That being said, it should not be compared to Booksmart which is admittedly a better film and more of a comedy. This film, however, tries to be more than that. Tapping into some comedic aspects, the film tries to go beyond that and actually has something more to say in terms of feminism. While it may not succeed at everything it tried to do thus affecting the general tone of the film, it was still a good time to be had albeit one that was arguably a touch too long.

Moxie follows Vivian (Robinson), a shy 16-year-old who has spent most of her life keeping her head down and flying under the radar. However, when the arrival of a new student named Lucy (Pascual-Peña) forces her to reexamine and become fed up with her fellow students at her high school and their behavior, Inspired by her mother Lisa’s (Amy Poehler) rebellious past, she anonymously publishes an underground magazine called Moxie to expose the many issues within her high school and unbeknownst to her, sparks a movement. Now in an unusual position at the center of a revolution, Vivian transcended the cliques and various groupings and befriended other young women within her school as they all learned to get through the trials and tribulations of high school together. Though those challenges may be contrived to emphasize the film’s message, Vivian’s arc was still compelling to watch.

Now the high school part of the story shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, the better part of Moxie was Vivian’s conflict as the leader of Moxie contrasted with that of being a normal teen girl, fighting with her own insecurities while doing what’s best for herself and that with the cause she believed in. She was still young and naive so she certainly didn’t have all the answers and made some mistakes at home and at school but that just made her human. Giving both sides of the character enough runway perhaps contributed to the long running time but each side worked more often than not as she found love in the midst of everything as her and her friends fought the establishment and the patriarchy that sought to hold them back. It’s amazing what could happen if we just listened to each other. In the end, the tone couldn’t quite keep up with the lighter and more serious aspects of the film’s subject matter which made for some jarring moments.

Ultimately, the best part of Moxie was its performances from a primarily young and up-and-coming cast led by Robinson as Vivian who most viewers are sure to fall in love with. Her likable and relatable performance made it easy to connect with her character and her struggles. They may not be groundbreaking by any means but she made up for it. The chemistry amongst the cast was also a high point, making for fun dynamics including Vivian and her friends or even Vivian and her mother Lucy, played brilliantly by Poehler who also directs. It definitely would have been nice to see more of her character’s rebellious past.

At the end of the day, Moxie was a nice surprise that is certainly worth checking out.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.