Flipping the trend for cinematic adaptations of young adult fiction like Twilight on its head, this darkly black comedy turns its attentions to the fate and fortunes of a YA author, as embodied by an attitude-wizened, emotionally juvenile Charlize Theron. Penned by Diablo Cody, whose deft cinematic debut was the quirky indie hit Juno, the film shuns the unrealistic, sanitised and fantasy YA style we've become all too familiar with. Here is a woman riddled with flaws, problems and issues, one of which is the misplaced theory that she can return to her hometown and gatecrash her high school love's marriage in a desperate attempt to re-create her teenage feelings of superiority and confidence. This is no sugar-coated chuckle marathon; it's a twisted, caustic and bleak take on life, but very funny because of it.
Young Adult is out on DVD this month.
