Whatever

This is the kind of movie that will give parents nightmares. Writer and director Susan Skoog is the anti-John Hughes. There is not a whiff of nostalgia in this gritty and unflinching slice-of-life teen drama set in 1981. Liza Weil stars as Anna, a New Jersey high school senior who has aspirations of going to art school. In the meantime, she falls under the influence of her more reckless best friend, Brenda (Chad Morgan). Happy days, these are not, as Anna and Brenda engage in joyless bouts with sex, drugs and alcohol. Adult authority is represented by Anna's single mother, who encourages her to lower her expectations ("It hurts less") and her nurturing guidance counselor (Fredric Forrest, who rings one of the film's few false notes as an out-of-time hipster). Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)