16 year old Leo Borlock (Graham Verchere) is a shy, slightly nerdy member of the high school band. He and his mother Gloria (Darby Stanchfield) moved to the fictional small town of Mina Arizona 6 years earlier after the sudden death of his father. Leo is bullied in school but is befriended by an Asian Indian boy called Kevin (Karan Brar) but once in high school, Leo keeps a low profile.
Into the maelstrom of teenage life in the small Mina High steps a quirky hippy-like new girl called Stargirl (Grace VanderVaal). Not only is Leo intrigued and develops a crush on her, mildly stalking her, but she also attracts immediate attention with her flamboyant hairstyle, hats and clothes and her gentle kind nature. She is kind to the withdrawn Leo and they begin to form a strong bond. Mina High's football team has not won a game in years but one Friday night, Stargirl steps on the field with her ukulele and sings a toe tapping song of inspiration and happiness that lifts the whole team, cheerleaders and band to an unlikely victory.
Stargirl's positivity rubs off on the whole school and she acts like a kind of a lucky talisman pushing the school atmosphere to a happier level and repeated success on the football field. Leo becomes popular because of the popularity of his new girlfriend. He has to cope with something he's never had to before, how to manage his friendships with his male friends and discussions with his mother with whom he is close whilst being in love for the first time. Stargirl's unique intensity helps draw Leo out of the self-imposed emotional hibernation that he's been in since the death of his father.
Things take a dramatic turn when, during the regional football final, an opposition player is injured and Stargirl goes over to him, holds his hand on the field and actually travels in the ambulance with him to the hospital. The absence of her ebullient personality leaves the team and the crowd flat and they end up losing the final. Sentiment in the school turns very sour against Stargirl and Leo is caught up in that.
Stargirl at first reacts by trying to conform (she changes her hair, she wears more regular teenage girl clothes, she finally succumbs and gets a smart phone and reverts to her real name of Susan). When she wins a regional speech competition, she is still shunned at school even after appearing on Kevin's famous Hotseat show. Eventually she reverts back to being Stargirl and feels comfortable being her quirky self and it's a great journey of discovery for the both of them, Leo encouraging her to be true to herself and Stargirl bringing out hidden talents in Leo that become evident when she invites him up on stage at the Winter Formal to sing Just What I Needed by The Cars that he used to sing in the car with his dad as a child. The movie ends abruptly when Stargirl and her mother suddenly leave town right after the formal leaving Leo somewhat perplexed and a little bereft. Leo goes on to a successful completion of high school and begins college all the while treasuring the memories of his brief time spent close to this extraordinary girl.
The movie is made by the star casting of the young couple, the most dramatic being VanderVaal for whom this was her acting debut at the age of only 14. Her performance is simply stunning and she exudes the kind of quirky, powerful, beautiful charisma complete with natural singing and dancing skills that conveys the kind of lucky talisman infectiousness that permeates the whole school. That's not an easy task for a early teenage girl. The casting of 16-year-old Graham Verchere was perfect. He's an extremely authentic teen actor with great vulnerability and sensitivity and conveyed Leo's journey of emotional flowering with nuance and believability. There is an air of childhood magic about the show but it still remains grounded accurately in the modern teenage world to make it believable. It's a happy and heartwarming movie.
Into the maelstrom of teenage life in the small Mina High steps a quirky hippy-like new girl called Stargirl (Grace VanderVaal). Not only is Leo intrigued and develops a crush on her, mildly stalking her, but she also attracts immediate attention with her flamboyant hairstyle, hats and clothes and her gentle kind nature. She is kind to the withdrawn Leo and they begin to form a strong bond. Mina High's football team has not won a game in years but one Friday night, Stargirl steps on the field with her ukulele and sings a toe tapping song of inspiration and happiness that lifts the whole team, cheerleaders and band to an unlikely victory.
Stargirl's positivity rubs off on the whole school and she acts like a kind of a lucky talisman pushing the school atmosphere to a happier level and repeated success on the football field. Leo becomes popular because of the popularity of his new girlfriend. He has to cope with something he's never had to before, how to manage his friendships with his male friends and discussions with his mother with whom he is close whilst being in love for the first time. Stargirl's unique intensity helps draw Leo out of the self-imposed emotional hibernation that he's been in since the death of his father.
Things take a dramatic turn when, during the regional football final, an opposition player is injured and Stargirl goes over to him, holds his hand on the field and actually travels in the ambulance with him to the hospital. The absence of her ebullient personality leaves the team and the crowd flat and they end up losing the final. Sentiment in the school turns very sour against Stargirl and Leo is caught up in that.
Stargirl at first reacts by trying to conform (she changes her hair, she wears more regular teenage girl clothes, she finally succumbs and gets a smart phone and reverts to her real name of Susan). When she wins a regional speech competition, she is still shunned at school even after appearing on Kevin's famous Hotseat show. Eventually she reverts back to being Stargirl and feels comfortable being her quirky self and it's a great journey of discovery for the both of them, Leo encouraging her to be true to herself and Stargirl bringing out hidden talents in Leo that become evident when she invites him up on stage at the Winter Formal to sing Just What I Needed by The Cars that he used to sing in the car with his dad as a child. The movie ends abruptly when Stargirl and her mother suddenly leave town right after the formal leaving Leo somewhat perplexed and a little bereft. Leo goes on to a successful completion of high school and begins college all the while treasuring the memories of his brief time spent close to this extraordinary girl.
The movie is made by the star casting of the young couple, the most dramatic being VanderVaal for whom this was her acting debut at the age of only 14. Her performance is simply stunning and she exudes the kind of quirky, powerful, beautiful charisma complete with natural singing and dancing skills that conveys the kind of lucky talisman infectiousness that permeates the whole school. That's not an easy task for a early teenage girl. The casting of 16-year-old Graham Verchere was perfect. He's an extremely authentic teen actor with great vulnerability and sensitivity and conveyed Leo's journey of emotional flowering with nuance and believability. There is an air of childhood magic about the show but it still remains grounded accurately in the modern teenage world to make it believable. It's a happy and heartwarming movie.