Set in the banal 1980s, Susan Skoog’s debut feature treads the territory between adolescence and adulthood – an area with no guide. Anna longs to escape life in a New Jersey suburb by gaining acceptance into Cooper Union, the prestigious art school in New York City. Her divorced mother is too busy looking for a husband to pay much attention to her. Then there is the boy-magnet Brenda, the best friend who drinks recklessly, and who takes Anna to the wild side of teen life. The two speed-travel through a world of drugs and alcohol, of loud parties and easy sex. The two girls find romance, risk and adventure, creating the situations they find themselves in, which is where life’s lessons are learned. Writer-director Skoog has said of the film, “I’ve never felt that my experiences, and those of my friends have been faithfully represented on-screen. Most coming of age films voice the male perspective or present stereotypes with easy solutions and happy endings. But for most of us there are no clear answers and our experiences fall in between the cracks of the high school cliche.” Whatever accomplishes what few films about women do: despite life’s difficulties, Anna is never a victim. Anna is a true heroine who overcomes the disappointments of life by looking at them squarely in the eye. (Im Hyun-Ock)