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The Cinematherapy community has long held that critically acclaimed and high-quality movies often have something important and sophisticated to say about psychological health and well-being.
Booksmart, the recently released coming-of-age “female” bromance, is no exception, a hilarious and poignant blockbuster sensation about two graduating high schoolers proves both entertaining and psychologically enriching.
Two Takeaways about Healthy Living:
Work-Life Balance: The movie opens with Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) navigating the final day of high school’s senior year. They are in celebration mode, having achieved their end goals of getting into impressive colleges (Yale and Columbia, respectively). The problem is they had committed themselves solely to this academic endeavor, at the expense of social fun and any degree of partying. A rude awakening ensues when Molly realizes that many of her peers who had worked less than her (and definitely had more fun) had also achieved the same ends.
A harsh psychological reality is that overworking, and maintaining an imbalanced default of “all work and no play” limits life satisfaction, and promotes burnout. We know from decades of clinical research that when we consistently suppress emotions, there’s an inevitable explosion down the road. The same is likely true for social fun and partying: The more we suppress, the more at risk we become of overindulging or overdoing it when we do engage. Indeed, Molly spends much of the movie restlessly and riskily seeking to cram a high school career of partying into one final night.
The healthier approach is to hold a disciplined middle-ground of moderate and consistent consumption; fluidly balancing the work-play ratio to keep anxious cramming and binging to a minimum.
Friendship Cultivation: The core of the movie is the “best friend forever” dynamic between Molly and Amy.
Effectively cultivating meaningfully deep and rich friendships is obviously critical to psychological health. In fact, research shows that even a single good friendship can make a world of difference with myriad mental health outcomes. As such, the tendencies that build successful friendships and its associated benefits are on clear display in this film, as Molly and Amy are constantly, often unintentionally, nurturing the cherished friendship.
A running joke, for instance, is the passionate praise Molly and Amy heap upon one another through elaborate tongue-in-cheek rants about the other’s awesomeness, whenever there’s a crisis of confidence or self-doubt. Consistent with the clinical literature, we see spirited self-esteem boosts propelling Molly and Amy toward overcoming goals and asserting personal needs.
In short, see and enjoy Booksmart not just for its fun and witty take on the modern adolescent experience, but also for the prudent commentary about psychologically healthy living.
