There’s plenty of teenage movies out there. There’s some good ones, and loads of bad ones. Then there’s a few unknown ones. We have a Netflix subscription, so a while back my flatmate and I watched something called G.B.F. (Gay Best Friend). Also a CBS Movie, it revolved around gay friends who realise being a GBF is in, and who plan to come out in style so as to become cool. When we realised The DUFF was coming out, we hoped it’d be kinda the same: funny, socially accurate and original. We were right.

High school senior Bianca (Mae Whitman) is best friends with Jess and Casey, two of the hottest girls in school. Perfectly happy with her life, she doesn’t realise that she’s essentially invisible. When Football captain and neighbour since childhood Wesley (Robbie Amell) lets Bianca know that she’s her friends’ DUFF, aka the Designated Ugly Fat Friend, she starts to notice everything wrong in her life.

Cutting herself off from her friends, even though they insist things aren’t what they seem, Bianca has a sudden inspiration: what if she could stop being a DUFF? Tricking Wesley into helping her in exchange for help in science, Bianca initiates a journey into self-discovery.

While Wesley sets out to help her find her style while improving her confidence and dating skills, Bianca finds herself bullied by Wesley’s ex-girlfriend, queen bee Madison (Annika Gordon). Intent on ruining her life, Madison releases awkward video footage of Bianca and repeatedly threatens her with more. But not one to be held down, Bianca turns the situation around and even asks her crush Toby (Nick Eversman) out on a date.

The film definitely has all the right ingredients for a teenage comedy: the dorky girl, the hot jock, the bitchy prom queen, the awkward but loveable parent, the cute and slightly alternative crush, the weird teacher.

There’s plenty of LOL moments, as well as a healthy supply of cringe-worthy ones. It’s a great movie to watch with your friends 🙂

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