Growing Pains is the feature-length debut of writer-director Catherine Argyrople. The coming-of-age drama is also the debut feature for co-writer Mariana Fabian. The story follows best friends Nat (Deanna Tarraza) and Zoe (Molly Morneweck). The lifelong besties have just finished their final year of middle school and excitedly discuss what 9th grade will hold in store for them. Unfortunately, this summer proves to challenge them both in unexpected ways.
Nat’s father, Carlos (Freddy Munoz), makes his daughter work seemingly every day in the family’s restaurant. This leaves little time for her to hang out with Zoe, though new co-worker Lexie (Maia Isabel Frias) and Nat hit it off instantly. Meanwhile, Zoe is training for the rowing team, pushing herself to exhaustion every hour. This is not good for several reasons, chief among them because Zoe is a cancer survivor, and this could adversely affect her health in unforeseen ways. But Sam (Caeley Gale), who is on the rowing team as well, also pushes herself and invites Zoe out to parties as she’s older. Can Nat and Zoe find the time to hang out and catch up, or does growing up mean growing apart?
Growing Pains has a lot going for it. First, the young stars are natural talents. Tarraza makes Nat’s frustrations at constantly being asked to work real, and her chemistry with Frias sizzles. Morneweck sells her character’s feelings about her body and her first sexual encounters with a boy authentically. Frias and Gale are also strong as new friends who think they know what’s best for the protagonists but maybe don’t because they don’t know them very well. Maga Uzo plays Nat’s grandma and is very sweet and sincere.
“…makes his daughter work seemingly every day…This leaves little time for her to hang out with Zoe.”
The editing is also really good. Zoe’s training montage makes audiences feel the intensity of her workout, while a pool party scene lasts long enough that all watching are made as uncomfortable as Zoe. The musical score by Joe Chris is stirring in all the right ways.
However, Growing Pains does have a few downsides. The dialogue for Dan, a boy Zoe meets at a party, does not work. His lines about blue balls and jerking off don’t sound authentic and seem to be from a PSA and not this otherwise realistic drama. It’s too matter-of-fact, with little build-up. Maybe it is meant to signal he has no game or perhaps it is to get the point across as simply as possible for the target audience of high schoolers. No matter the case, they’re the least believable lines in the film.
The other issue involves Carlos and his reaction to Nat being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. There is no build-up or hints of his homophobia. The only indication would be his reaction upon seeing Lexie in a shirt that reads “Girls Kissing Girls.” The thing is, his face expresses surprise, not disgust or anger. Prior to that, lesbian, gay, trans, etc., issues do not come up when he’s around, so his take on them is never set up. As such, this climatic blow-up rings false as it is seemingly out of nowhere. It is also so abruptly concluded that it does not work. A scene or two of Carlos refusing service to a couple at the restaurant or some such and then making the fight earlier so it’s not almost immediately wrapped up would go a long way to fixing this.
Growing Pains is a well-acted, mostly authentic look at coming of age for teenage girls. While some of the dialogue likes the realism of most of the screenplay, rarely do the conversations feel forced. Storywise, the narrative is engaging and honest, save for one moment, which is, unfortunately, a big one. However, the cast is strong, and Argyrople clearly has an eye for making the settings feel natural in a Sean Baker kind of way.
"…a well-acted, mostly authentic look at coming of age for teenage girls."
