Eighteen year old Elliott (Maisy Stella) spends a night camping out with her two best friends. After taking mushrooms, her 39 year old self, played by Aubrey Plaza, appears. The older Elliott starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do. One of those is to stay away from anyone called Chad, but Elliott soon meets a sweet young guy with that name (Percy Hynes White). Both the younger and older Elliott learn valuable lessons as she navigates her way through the last week before she goes to college.
The results of that set up could have been really cheesy but writer/director Megan Park keeps things real with a very witty and perceptive script. Plaza is always a great presence, and although her part is quite small, there is compensation in the way of a career making performance from Stella. She is very natural and surely has big things ahead of her.
There is one misstep in the form of a musical interlude which thankfully does not last too long. Otherwise this is a warm and touching film.
Rating: 8 out of 10