This Brooklyn-set indie (2011) is an authentic depiction of a 17-year-old girl—in fact, it often feels like it was written by one. Writer-director Dee Rees (expanding on a 2007 short of the same name) has conceived of most of her characters exclusively in terms of whether they encourage or stifle the heroine, a closeted female high school student who likes to write poetry. The storytelling can be laughably schematic—we know the girl’s mother is a negative influence, for example, because she concludes every conversation she’s in with a homophobic remark—though the movie is surprisingly lively on the whole. The mostly unknown cast is fresh and energetic, and cinematographer Bradford Young creates some romantic, gauzy effects with city lights.