Review by
Ben Peyton
Directed by: Hillary Shakespeare
Starring: Scarlett Marshall, Gino Wilson, Emily Jayne, Celiya
Köster-Brown, Jennie Hilliard, Sean Micallef, Jack Boal, George Fanzio,
Jamal Hadjkura
Maisie (Scarlett Marshall) is 16 and never been kissed. Ben (Gino Wilson) is 16 and never been kissed. Soundtrack to Sixteen follows
their struggle to rectify this while, at the same time, attempting to
navigate the trials and tribulations that accompany boozy house parties with
the added stress of school exams.
Maisie’s tired of not quite fitting in and being excluded from certain
gatherings, as well as being anxious to have that first kiss before she
turns 17. Stalking her handsome crush (George Fanzio) isn’t working
out and so she decides to surprise everyone, herself included, by adapting
her personality and infiltrating the cool girls’ gang. Longing for attention
and desperately seeking snogging, she turns a blind eye to their bitchy
behaviour as they take advantage of her good nature, further alienating her
from her real friends.
Just as much a misfit as Maisie, Ben does actually have a group of friends, albeit socially inept ones more interested in playing Pokémon than hanging out at house parties. Ben’s eager to achieve decent grades in the upcoming tests and is prone to losing his temper in true moody teenager style. His problems start when he begins to realise that he’s probably not as clever as he thinks he is, and his plummeting results would seem to agree.
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Of course, their paths collide and what follows is a charming, witty and
highly entertaining combination of coming-of-age story and romantic comedy,
made even more watchable by their pitch-perfect performances. Both superbly
portray the complex issues faced by young adults as naivety clouds their
judgement and compels them to make wrong decisions.
Written by sisters, Hillary and Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare, their script deftly captures the awkwardness of sexual awakening in hormonal young adults. A game of ‘I have never’ showcases the consequences of bowing to peer pressure and inner monologues are used, often with hilarious results. There are also tender moments of simplicity. A shared bus journey beautifully captures the bumbling nervousness of a simple introduction, and watching an older sister play with her much younger sibling is surprisingly moving.
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Backing up the two leads is a strong ensemble cast, particularly
Emily Jayne, Celiya Köster-Brown and Jennie Hilliard as
three self-obsessed, delightfully nasty girls that do their best to bring
out their worst. There’s a thumping soundtrack crammed full of teenage
angst, while the original music by Patrick Savage and
Holeg Spies is quirky and melodic.
Soundtrack to Sixteen is an incredibly confident debut feature from the Shakespeare sisters. Intelligent, amusing and delightfully nostalgic with accomplished performances (Marshall and Wilson in particular have extremely bright futures), it’s well worth watching these teenagers trying to get their kicks.
Soundtrack to Sixteen is on Prime
Video UK now.