Here’s an insufferable teen drama whose female lead displays almost radioactive levels of manic pixie dream-girl quirkiness: a Chernobyl of adorkable bohemian unattainability. She is transparently the invention of a male writer, and the film is incurious about how real girls and women think and feel. Paper Towns is based on a novel by John Green, author of smash-hit young adult weepie The Fault in Our Stars – a cheeky cameo reminds you of this gem.
Cara Delevingne plays high-school student Margo, über-popular free spirit with whom shy hunk-nerd Quentin (Nat Wolff) has been in love since they were both tiny, living next door to each other. Nowadays she hangs with the cool kids and Quentin’s left to pine, until one unforgettable night sets off an emotional journey replete with laughter, tears and closure. Like TFIOS, this is swoony escapism that is humourless and phoney: we are asked to take seriously the idea that Margo ran away to join the circus when she was little. Paper Towns is way outside the US tradition of high-school movies that are funny and sharp.
