Elizabeth Wood's White Girl was a little perplexing for some people back at Sundance, but I dug it all the same. Think Larry Clark's Kids directed by a woman and starring Homeland's Morgan Saylor as a New York City girl that falls hard in love for a street thug and embarks in the most harrowing of sexual and drug-infused journey's ever seen on film. The wild extremes Saylor goes through are bound to disturb parents all around the country, but once you find out that all the events depicted in the film were based on Wood's actual past, then you're left speechless. This is as feminist a film for 2016 as any I have seen so far this year. But not just that, its also a pertinent and resonant depiction of race in America as you have never wanted to see before. It goes to extremes on gender roles and race and in ways that would be deemed too taboo or hardcore for the mainstream or even indie audiences. You are bound to hear very divisive takes on White Girl in the weeks to come, but Kudos to Wood and Saylor on their singular achievement
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