‘Tall Girl’: The Weather Up There Is Overcast

Puzzled Netflix users have surely been scratching their heads in earnest as they’ve considered watching “Tall Girl,” the new movie on their Trending Now list. Its enigmatic title is understandably baffling, so to alleviate any confusion, here is some clarification: “Tall Girl” is about — and this may come as a shock — a tall girl. And that’s really the extent of its depth.

Directed by Nzingha Stewart, the Netflix Original teen rom-com released on Sept. 13 follows 6-foot-one-and-a-half-inch high school junior Jodi (Ava Michelle), and the trials and tribulations that stem from her height related insecurities. Jodi’s life gets interesting when handsome Swedish exchange student Stig (Luke Eisner) — who is taller than her — comes to her school, and she and popular girl Kimmy Stitcher (Clara Wilsey) vie for his attention. What ensues is an unrealistic and formulaic plot laden with clichés, making “Tall Girl” feel less like a feel-good rom-com and more like Netflix’s attempt to see how low audience standards are when it comes to consuming vacuous and predictable content.

“Tall Girl” features all the classic stereotypes that define teen films — love triangles, makeovers, and mean popular kids — and exaggerates them to the point of ludicrosity. The lack of originality, paired with the fact that the entire film centers around her height, leads one to wonder if there was some intentional irony built into the plot. Perhaps “Tall Girl” is purposefully making fun of the superficiality of makeovers and the often vapid nature of teenage drama. Jodi tries to catch Stig’s attention by getting her pageant girl sister (Sabrina Carpenter) to give her a makeover, the main feature of which seems to involve taking her hair out of her perpetual high ponytail. But unfortunately, it’s unlikely that this film is a self-aware satirical piece.

Before “Tall Girl” was even released, the trailer was met with harsh criticism on social media platforms. The premise of a tall, thin, and objectively pretty white girl feeling oppressed by her height, in a society where tall Eurocentric models are the standard of beauty, perhaps feels insensitive to more marginalized groups that are less represented in the media. “You think your life is hard? I’m a high school junior wearing size 13 Nikes” is a standout line from the movie that exemplifies this privilege. The fact that Jodi constantly gripes about her insecurity makes it difficult to inspire much sympathy for her.

Aside from the controversy about representation or the exaggerated gravity of her struggle, the film’s plot lacks real substance. Most scenes elicit nothing more than a cringe and the thought that such things would never happen in real life — far more than other teen films do. There are countless tall jokes aimed at Jodi, to the point of ludicrousness; would an attractive girl really face that much harassment every day for being the height of a runway model? Jodi is asked “How’s the weather up there?” 10 times a day; this is somehow hard to believe, which takes away from the legitimacy of the plot.

“Tall Girl,” while extremely cheesy and almost unwatchable, is not entirely without merit. Jodi is flanked by two quirky but loyal best friends: the sassy, encouraging, and refreshingly confident Fareeda (Anjelika Washington), and the short but lovable Jack (Griffin Gluck), who is, of course, hopelessly in love with Jodi. Fareeda and Jack are witty and emotive characters, and make the movie more bearable by showing audiences what genuine friendship looks like. Some jokes do land, like Jack’s Gordon Ramsay impression, or Stig’s confused reaction to the attention he gets at school because he was somehow a “dork” in his home country. None of the acting in “Tall Girl” is as cringeworthy as the plot — in fact, each actor falls into their assigned stereotype rather effortlessly, and 17-year-old Ava Michelle is a convincing actress, showing promise despite the one dimensional writing of her character given that Jodi’s entire personality is being tall.

Beyond its sporadic humor, the film’s message is clear, and an important one at that: The journey to find self love, while difficult in our society, is an essential part of coming of age, and is one that all young people can identify with. The theme of “Tall Girl” is evident and meaningful, but the omnipresent clichés and Jodi’s lack of relatability make it less accessible.

“Tall Girl” is a funny watch because of its unrealistic plot, but deep down, anyone who watches this movie knows that Netflix would have been better off putting “Tall Girl”’s budget toward the “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” sequels.