Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018)

I saw the trailer to Sierra Burgess Is a Loser about a week ago and it seemed kinda interesting so I decided to check it out. A couple of things I should have kept in mind though. First, it's a teen rom-com. Second, it's a teen movie from Netflix and we all know how To All the Boys I've Loved Before turned out.

Sierra Burgess (Shannon Purser) is smart and witty but she is also "ugly" and unpopular which is why Veronica (Kristine Froseth), the most popular girl in school, makes her mission to make her life miserable. When Jamey (Noah Centineo), a sweet football player, asks Veronica for her number, she gives him Sierra's instead. The two begins to text, but Sierra soon realises Jamey believes her to be Veronica so she asks Veronica to help her. In return, Sierra will teach Veronica how to be smart as she was dumped by her college boyfriend (Will Peltz) for being dumb.

The plot is so plain and bland, a kid could come up with it. A kid from another decade though as the only reason this whole thing happens is that none of these teens has WhatsApp --or another app like it. My parents have it, even a 60+-year-old man I know has it; how is it possible that high school kids don't? It makes sense though as everything about the story is ridiculous, not to mention how infuriating the ending is.

Which brings me to the film's main topic, catfishing. I appreciate that the filmmakers decided to address such a theme in a teen movie, I really do. What I do not appreciate though is the message they sent with Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, a message saying that it's okay to lie and manipulate others, you're get your way in the end anyway --not only Sierra gets herself a new friend and she even gets the boy.

As if that wasn't enough, the film also has one of the least likeable --more like one of the most unlikable-- leads ever. Sierra Burger is not a loser, she is a selfish, untitled and mean bitch. She doesn't give a damn about anyone other than herself. She doesn't take any responsibility, if anything she tries to find someone to blame for every single thing that's wrong with her. She doesn't catfish Jamey accidentally, she does it on purpose, and she doesn't even feel guilty about it. And what she does to Veronica after they became friends --Jamey kisses Veronica because he doesn't know Sierra is pretending to be Veronica, Sierra sees them and decides to humiliate Veronica in front of the entire school-- is horrendous.

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Veronica, that's someone you could feel sorry for. She is mean at first but, as the story "develops", we see that she is actually kind, sweet, compassionate and a true friend. She is not the best human being but she definitely deserves better than Sierra.

Another problem with Sierra Burgess Is a Loser is the lack of a proper pace. The film is so slow and boring it seems to go on for an eternity. It's not engaging, and not even the familiar cast, Shannon Purser aka Barb from Stranger Things, and the likeable Noah Centineo, can save it. By the way, how does one go from playing the most popular kid in school to playing a loser? Also, when exactly football player became synonymous with loser?