Netflix Picks to Binge-Watch Next: Daydream Nation Review, Starring Kat Dennings and Directed By Mike Goldbach

A teen love triangle that touches several genres

By Alyssa Delal Kocak

Some believe that feminists need to forgo their sexuality in order to empower women. Daydream Nation is a film that rejects this notion and instead pushes for the freedom of sexual expression.

Michael Goldbach directs the Canadian film, which stars Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, and Josh Lucas. Caroline Wexler, played by the outspoken feminist Kat Dennings, narrates the story line. Wexler is your archetypal big-city-moving-to-small-town teenage girl, reminiscent of Bella Swan from the Twilight Saga. As she starts anew at school, Wexler seduces Mr. Anderson (Josh Lucas), her incredibly attractive English teacher. Despite his good looks and charm, he is highly unstable and has psychotic breakdowns. The relationship fluctuates on and off while Wexler juggles another, more age-appropriate relationship with a classmate. Once Mr. Anderson finds out, he tries to sabotage it. This leads Wexler to realize what a crazed man Mr. Anderson really is and subsequently leaves him for good.

The film begins with Wexler explaining the life of Laura Lee. Laura worked part-time as a stripper in order to fund her college tuition. Despite working late nights as an exotic dancer, Laura had perfect attendance at school and got good grades. Laura’s character is an example of the underlying feminist tones in the film. Her character debunks the stereotype of strippers and helps humanize the industry’s workers. There is a demand for the sex workers and if it were not Laura, then it would have been someone else. Laura ends up dead and naked in a nearby field, the work of a serial killer on the loose, the victim of misogyny and misdirected anger. The film hints at awareness of all these issues, but does not explicitly address them.

While Laura Lee’s character had a purpose, introducing a serial killer is a half-assed attempt at suspense. The audience never sees the serial killer until the very last scenes, his on-screen performance of the killer probably totaling to a three minutes. We are pushed to suspect that Mr. Anderson, with his psychotic breakdowns, is the culprit, but it's an obvious, see-through red herring.

Going back to the positives, Goldbach deftly uses color theory to express the mood. The town is constantly burning from an industrial fire, which sets a pervasive yellow/orange tone. The yellow tint is most noticeable in romantic and sexually explicit scenes. Incorporating red helps subtly establishes Wexler as a sexual person, red symbolizing passion and love. I tried counting all the scenes where Wexler was surrounded by the color red, but I lost count.

Daydream Nation explores a series of taboo topics. We have the uninhibited expression of female sexuality, the ever-so-classic teacher-student affair, the battle with mental illness, and, of course, the over-consumption of drugs by white, middle-class suburban teens. This film is great for a low-key kick-back night when you can't decide what you're in the mood for, but it carries with it the cultural vegetables of feminist theory.

Available on Netflix and YouTube!