The teen-centric "Flower" is neither particularly insightful nor shocking to anyone well versed in indie movies. Directed by Max Winkler and co-written with Matt Spicer ("Ingrid Goes West"), the film mixes teenage angst with bouts of (supposed) dark comedy that takes inherently risky material and nearly destroys it with utter implausibility.The rebellious and sexually confident 17 year old Erica (the always fantastic Zoey Deutch) lives with her single mom Laurie (Kathryn Hahn, in a knockout dramatic performance). In order to raise bail money for her incarcerated dad, Erica performs sex acts on older men while her best friends (Maya Eshet, Dylan Gelula) film the encounters so that they can blackmail the victims for cash. She does so under the guise that she's teaching these men a lesson because they shouldn't be seeking out and messing around with underage girls.Soon mom's new boyfriend Bob (Tim Heidecker) moves in, and he springs his mentally disturbed, drug addict son Luke (Joey Morgan) out of rehab to officially join the family. When Luke exposes his dark secret about an accused pedophile teacher (Adam Scott) who once supposedly physically abused him, the two soon-to-be step siblings set out to even the score. As you'd expect, things don't quite go as planned and the teens find themselves in a tangled web of trouble.The script is engaging enough but at times succumbs to its own lazy writing as increasingly absurd things happen in rapid succession. While it may fizzle when things go a little too far, it excels as a fully realized character study of Erica, herself the symbol of the muddled morality and remorselessness of a younger generation. This social commentary is continual yet never feels forced, and at the heart of the story is a legitimately unlikable protagonist that somehow won me over.This is an arresting movie that certainly won't be for everyone. It has a low budget look and feel, it doesn't even come close to resembling a traditional comedy, and while the run time is a relatively short 90 minutes, it feels as if it rambles aimlessly on for much longer. Some of Winkler's directorial choices are annoying (like his overuse of handheld cameras and other clichéd gimmicks), but overall it's a well crafted film and is worth watching for Deutch and Hahn's performances alone.

Single Mom coping with devious daughter. Devious daughter coping with single Mom and the teen years. Slut don't mean what it used to mean. Goes off the rails at the end. I guess endings are hard to write right! For you $8 you'll get $7.32 worth of entertainment and a lot of bad ideas.

Stellar performances by Zoey Deutch and Tim Heidecker.

a dark comedy that has the blossoming of being a teenager with immature, sarcastic tendencies Zoey Deutch once again shines as the lead even if her character shows vast amounts of immaturity and shallownessthe fact is that she plays Erica, her father is in jail and considering she's been hurt by this man emotionally her resolve is to hurt other men who hurt others worsemainly she and her friends target predators around town and after bribing the perps she hopes to save up enough to bail her father outKathyrn Hahn plays her mother who just wants happiness with the right man and is disappointed that Erica has scared away every potential man that's come into her lifewith her mother's current boyfriend he has a son, Luke and she wants her daughter to make an effortthings get interesting however when her stepbrother remembers an alleged predator played by Adam Scott he encountered back in school before going into rehab, Erica then hatches a scheme to right the wrongs done to Lukethere's so much foul-mouth dialogue in this thing which makes it funny but also relatable given that Erica is still a young woman not giving a damn what people think about her and learning to roll with the punchesthings do take a dark turn once it reaches the third half and it goes in unexpected places you wouldn't imaginewe might have the best intentions to do good for others but sometimes it can lead to disastrous resultslove all the actors here, the added realism, and the ending was quite a surprisedirector Max Winkler goes for a less traditional teen flick which is always a breath of fresh air

Fun and dark. A few good twists. The acting is terrific.

Zoey is incredible and this movie is a wild ride

I personally loved this movie. In my opinion, Winkler isn't trying to glorify Erica's behavior. Yes, she's showcased as a strong female, and she absolutely is that. Erica gets what Erica wants, and she'll do whatever it takes to get it. I genuinely believe she is sometimes well-meaning, but as you said, she was also raised in a culture that is desensitized to porn, and that has told her that the ability to sexually manipulate men is something that should be celebrated and used to her advantage. And so that's what she does. Despite the obvious affection between Erica and her mother, Erica has virtually no useful adult supervision. She climbs in and out of windows, and doesn't appear to ever go to school. Adam Scott's character asks Erica whether her parents ever ask where she is, but the answer is no, they don't, and that's part of the problem. Her mom tells her that she has agency over her own decisions despite how unwise they are. Her mom offers her money to do things instead of just expecting Erica to do what she's told. All of this has created an individual who is willing to do just about anything for money, including offering to blow her own future stepbrother. Her body is just currency to be spent, and a "dick is just a thumb without a fingernail". By the end, Erica has realized that the father she reveres is really just a man who couldn't care less about her, and didn't even bother to give her a call when he got out of prison. The end might appear to be a kind of happiness, but I don't think it is, and I don't think it's supposed to be. It's just an example of what happens when kids are raised in an oversexed culture that glorifies money, technology, and individuality no matter the cost. By the end, Erica has just transferred her daddy issues onto another man, an individual who it is safe to admire because he is now in jail. To me this movie is just a beautifully lit tragedy, but I thought it was incredibly well done.

Just saw this movie so so good.

A total surprise, an outrageous and strangely tender love story, rude and nasty at times, great character studies, reminded me a bit of Lady Bird but R rated. And very funny./

Really enjoyed the film. Reminded me of Risky Business, Breakfast Club and some of the coming-of-age, caper-style teen movies of the 80s. Yes it was a little shocking, and the language was gratuitous but maybe I'm just getting old! There was no precise message as such but looking back on the movie in years to come it will be a good portrait of adolescence in 2016. The acting was fantastic.

this its movie going its to be great to getting impossible zoey deutch

The performances by Deutch, Hahn, and Scott in this film are something to behold. This film was similar in tone to Paul Verhoeven's Elle, dark and serious but still laugh out loud funny. I saw this at Tribeca, and can't wait for it to be released on DVD so that I can watch again. Viva la Deutch!

The cast exploits the story so well.

Deutch burns up the screen in ways that are so passionately multifaceted I was dumbstruck by all of the emotional nuances she was able to mine with such aggressively calming ease.

Winkler turns credulity to the wind with a succession of increasingly ridiculous plot twists that can only occur in the mind of a lazy scriptwriter.