Moxie marks the second directorial feature from Amy Poehler and her second film released with Netflix. The film, previously a novel, is a great watch, and I had a great time watching it. We’re first introduced to Vivian, an extremely shy character who generally keeps to herself in her daily routine. We see her arriving back to high school for a new year, where the talk of the town already is to see who will be given what superlative for the annual list. “The List”, is never properly explained, but the general gist is that it’s one of the many examples of misogyny that takes place in high school on a day-to-day basis. Some of the titles handed out during the film include “Best Rack”, “Least and Most Bangable”, “Most DTF” and “Future MILF” – extremely uncomforting, but realistically this is the world we live in.
Instantly, we meet a loveable character, played perfectly by Hadley Robinson – it is a great performance and casting decision in my opinion. In Vivian’s class, we’re introduced straight away to a new student, Lucy – played by Alycia Pascual-Peña. Right from the start, Lucy has a strong presence on screen, and takes nothing from anybody! Within 10 minutes of her being new to the school, Vivian is harassed by the conventional school jock, Mitchell. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays him so well that you end up hating him as intended. He is the biggest misogynistic jerk I have ever seen on screen, and it honestly isn’t an overstatement. Spitting in drinks, verbal harassment, and even going as far as to sexually assault another pupil. This sparks outrage when Lucy goes to the principal and reports the harassment, who responds to Lucy trying to switch the word “harass” to “bother”, because if Lucy uses that word, the principal will have to do something, and she wouldn’t want that… ridiculous!
Vivian talks with her mother about when she was younger and how she was vindictive against the patriarchy. This leads to Vivian soon starting Moxie – in a fit of rage following “The List” being released. With a montage sequence paired with Toplady’ s “Green Light, Red Light”, Vivian draws up inspirational messages even makes her own list calling out male students, and ranking them similar to how the girls were ranked based on grotesque qualities, and shortly after gets them all printed, copied and shared across the school. It isn’t long until the rest of the female student body hears about Moxie and soon shares it with everyone else.
The main group of girls who form the Moxie club soon begin taking part in protests around the school, the first involving covering their hands in hearts and stars, the symbol for Moxie in this film. This is later followed by the decision for them all to wear tank tops, after an incident where Kaitlynn, a member of the Moxie group is asked to cover up by the head of the school, despite being sat next to someone with literally the same shirt on, however, said person has smaller breasts than Kaitlynn.
One of the main storyline’s in the film focuses on the Moxie group campaigning for Kiera – captain of the soccer team, to be nominated for Rockport’s Student Athlete Ambassador. Kiera is pitted against Mitchell, so you know I was rooting for her even more at this point. Some may argue that Moxie’s campaign methods were somewhat different, including printing off stickers to label people they believed to be assholes. This all backfires when Mitchell goes onto the school’s daily announcements. He calls out the Moxie group for bullying and paints himself as the victim as if he isn’t a piece of shit. Mitchell ends up winning, and it leaves you with the worst feeling ever. Seeing a character whom you support and want to win, end up losing is such an awful feeling. Especially when the characters are written and performed so well that the characters feel so real and to see them hurt makes you hurt as well. One of the things this film gets so right is emotion and how to deal with them, the whole point of Moxie in the first place is for these girls to have the force of character and all show it in different ways.
At one point in the film, Claudia – Vivian’s best friend since the age of four ends up taking the blame for Moxie, and as a result, is suspended from the school. When challenged about her actions by Vivian, Claudia reveals she knew all along it was Viv and that she did it because she isn’t a coward. This ultimately is what leads to Viv going on one final rampage. Throughout the film, even though she starts and releases each Moxie club, and encourages the rest of the female student body to join in with the ending of the school’s patriarchy, Vivian struggles to find her voice, even from the very first scene of the film. Ultimately, it’s her best friend who helps her start to find it when she’s told to not be a coward anymore and to tell the word that she started Moxie. She is contacted by an anonymous character, who says that she was raped by another student. This leads to Vivian painting the word “RAPEPORT” (a spin on the school’s name) in red paint in front of the school’s entrance.
In the final act of the film, Emma – host of the school’s announcements and also head cheerleader comes forward following a huge protest on behalf of Moxie outside of the school, and because of the rest of the school standing for what they believe in announces she was sexually assaulted by Mitchell. Inspired by her brave words and believing her, the rest of the girls gathered begin sharing their troubles in support, and it is such a great scene. Amy Poehler has done a fantastic job with this film and has crafted a beautiful film that is a must-see for everyone.
One of my biggest praises of this film is the script. On many occasions throughout my viewing of the film, I was extremely impressed by the script, with the screenplay written by Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer – and I believed I was genuinely watching a group of young women having a conversation, compared to perse a scene from Riverdale where it’s nothing like teenagers discussing important matters of daily lives as a young woman in a misogynistic environment – take notes, Betty and Veronica… Another praise was the soundtrack, every time a song played it fit perfectly to where the story was at that point, and really added to the uplifting and inspirational mood of this movie. A good soundtrack is key during a film, and this one was perfect
Seth and Vivian are a great pairing, and Hadley Robinson and Nico Hiraga have such great chemistry on screen. From their very first interaction in the film to the end, they are honestly adorable. Nico was in Booksmart, and I have the most distinct memory of him skateboarding being pushed by a fire extinguisher – he’s such a cool guy.
‘Moxie’ – Final Thoughts
Overall, I had a really good time watching Moxie – the casting and representation were great, and it carried such a strong message too. Amy Poehler has done a great job of telling this story from Jennifer Mathieu’s original novel. I really recommend that you watch this film, even if it doesn’t seem like your cup of tea. The message it carries is extremely important.
