Young Adult

Young Adult is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody, and starring Charlize Theron. Reitman and Cody worked together previously on Juno (2007). Young Adult began a limited release on December 9, 2011, before expanding to a wide release on December 16, 2011. It received generally positive reviews from critics, and Theron earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. Plot Mavis Gary is a 37-year-old divorced, alcoholic ghost writer of a series of young adult novels, on deadline with her editor to finish the last book of the soon-to-be-canceled series. Mavis receives an e-mail with a picture of the newborn daughter of her high school boyfriend Buddy Slade and his wife Beth. Believing it to be a sign she and Buddy are meant to be together, Mavis leaves Minneapolis, returning to her hometown of Mercury, Minnesota, to reclaim her life with Buddy, under the pretext of overseeing a real estate deal. Arriving after listening to "The Concept" by Teenage Fanclub from an old mixtape Buddy gave her in high school, Mavis arranges to meet him the next day at a local sports bar for old times' sake. Beforehand, she goes alone to the bar Woody's. There she reconnects with a former classmate she barely remembers, Matt Freehauf, who became disabled after being beaten by jocks who erroneously assumed he was gay. He tells her that her plan to reclaim Buddy is irrational and selfish, but she ignores him. The following day, Mavis meets Buddy at the sports bar, where they see Matt again, as he is the bar's bookkeeper. On their way out, Buddy invites Mavis to a performance of Beth's "mom rock band". Mavis spends another night getting drunk with Matt, who distills homemade bourbon in his garage where he lives with his sister Sandra. On another outing with him, Mavis also runs into a cousin who lives locally. When Mavis attends the gig, the other moms are resentful of Mavis, whom they remember as the "psychotic prom queen bitch". As Beth's band performs, the lead singer dedicates their opening song to Buddy from Beth; "The Concept". Angry, Mavis tries to get Buddy's attention on her, but she comes off as cringey.