Moxie Review – a Positive Message with Lots of Heart (and Stars)

 

“It’s a Revolution.” Moxie is entertaining with a positive message and loads of heart (and stars).

 

If you have breasts or a vagina, you can relate to the students in Moxie in some capacity or another and have more than likely experienced some form of sexism in your life. Every generation has a coming-of-age movie that addresses these struggles in their high school years and the desire to fight back. Moxie is that movie for Gen Z and has the ability to enable a whole generation of girls to start making change. Read our Moxie Review below.

 

Moxie is a powerful conversation about teenagers making choices that fuel personal development, standing up for what’s right (even when knowing the consequences may be undesirable), and fighting against the patriarchy.

 

At its core, the definition of feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” As a political ideology, it’s much more. It’s a range of social and political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. It’s this ideology that leads Moxie‘s main character, 16-year-old Vivian (Hadley Robinson), to step out of her shy shell and do something about the sexism that is happening at the school she attends.

 

 

What Works – Moxie Review

Until Lucy’s arrival at Rockport High, Vivian had always flown under the radar but begins to notices how fellow student and quarterback of the football team, Mitchell Wilson, isn’t just “annoying” and “picking” on kids, he’s downright harassing and toxic—and worse, his microaggressions seem to be condoned by the faculty.

 

 

When an annual inappropriate list is distributed during a pep rally, Vivan realizes that she’s fed up with how everyone has just accepted it for the status quo.

 

Inspired by her mom’s rebellious past and riot grrrl memorabilia, and new confident friend Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Peña), Vivian publishes an anonymous zine (“Moxie”) calling out sexism and toxic masculinity at her school. What follows is a school-wide, coming-of-rage revolution.

 

Vivian builds intersectional relationships with other young women and allies, as they navigate high school together and fight against inappropriate male student behavior and sexist school rules.

 

 

The archetypal tropes used to depict Rockport High’s finest are cliché, but just on the side of working:

• Cynical teacher toeing the line as to now make waves
• Completely out-of-touch administrator so white she wouldn’t recognize that it wasn’t 1960 if it smacked her in the face
• Sweetheart jock everybody loves, despite the fact that he’s a sexist, misogynist pig 
• Sweetheart jock’s best friend/sidekick whose head is basically up the jock’s butt
• New kid who is more worldly and outspoken and wants to make a difference and at a minimum, will stand up for herself against meathead jocks
• Best friends who come from entirely different backgrounds and have parents who are as different as night and day
• Goofy best male friend who adores his female BFF and they fall in love (and we STAN him)

Speaking of the goofy best friend. Seth, played by Nico Hiraga, was a stand-out in his role. Best friend, ally, could you ask for more?

 

What Doesn’t Work – Moxie Review

Robinson is fantastic as Vivian. While this is a screenplay adapted from a book, a bit more time with the storyline between Claudia and Vivian and the discussion around their relationship would have been nice. When they are talking in Claudia’s bedroom, Claudia talks about her Asian background and that the stakes are different/higher for her than they are for Vivian. A little deeper exploration would have been a beneficial context for Moxie.

 

 

Another great addition would have been allowing Lucy’s character to have a little more front and center time. She starts out as a strong motivator for the movement and then appears to take a backseat. More of Lucy could have beneficial to the story.

Also, by including more of Claudia and Lucy’s stories, the film would have been less white girl riot and slightly more inclusive.

About MOXIE

Vivian (Hadley Robinson), a seemingly shy 16-year-old, has always preferred to keep her head down and fly under the radar. But when the arrival of a new student (Alycia Pascual-Peña) forces her to examine the unchecked behavior of her fellow students running rampant at her high school, Vivian realizes she’s fed up. Inspired by her mother’s (Amy Poehler) rebellious past, Vivian anonymously publishes an underground zine called Moxie to expose bias and wrongdoing in her high school and unexpectedly sparks a movement. Now at the center of a revolution, Vivian begins to forge new friendships with other young women and allies, reaching across the divide of cliques and clubs as they learn to navigate the highs and lows of high school together. Directed by Amy Poehler and based on the novel by Jennifer Mathieu, MOXIE also stars Lauren Tsai, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Nico Hiraga, Sydney Park, Josephine Langford, Clark Gregg, Josie Totah, Anjelika Washington, Charlie Hall, and Sabrina Haskett, with Ike Barinholtz and Marcia Gay Harden.

Moxie is streaming on Netflix