Cairo Sweet (Jenna Ortega) lives in a mansion by herself. Her parents are away and have been for a long time. She lives in a world of literature. Her one friend is Winnie Black (Gideon Adlon). They discuss men and losing their virginity. She suggests that Cairo take Jonathan Allen Miller's writing class. Mr. Miller is taken in by Cairo's far-reaching ability, vocabulary, and depth. She has read Mr. Miller's book which he wrote before he became a teacher. Since then he has fallen into mediocrity, teaching rather than doing. Cairo writes and submits a short story written in Henry Miller fashion about a girl named Alice who has an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Murphy.

The film is about a self-aware schoolgirl who knows her fantasy value and writes about things that she knows. There are numerous references to lesser-known books. It is well-acted but the writing is a bit self-consumed in its own ashes.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

A creative writing assignment yields complex results between a teacher and his talented student.

I note many poor reviews and I'm unsure why that is. The acting is great from every single member of the cast.

The dialogue is meaningful and well thought out.

The plot echoes what is happening around the world right now with thousands of teachers and students: some will get caught and some won't. But it's real and so it's great to see the inner workings of the process, by such great acting and story telling.

There's even a bit in there about how women in fact have all the power in the world, they just don't realise it.

There's an insightful comment too about how "We know where the line is and don't cross it." Except some do, and when they have it's too late to walk it back.

I was surprised at Ortega's depth of character acting, but in hindsight perhaps not a great distance from her Wednesday character.

But there's an interplay between her and Winnie, as power and courage shift between one and the other as the story goes on.

Great film, I liked it a lot.