Tall Girl

Story

At 6 feet and 1 inch tall, 17-year-old Jodie (Ava Michelle) struggles to fit in at school, and her high school experience is tainted by bullying.

The only people who truly accept Jodie are her friends Jack (Griffin Gluck) (nicknamed ‘Dunk’) and Fareeda (Anjelika Washington). The ‘cool kids’ who bully Jodie because of her height include main bully Kimmy (Clara Wilsey) and her friends Liz (Paris Berelc) and Schnipper (Rico Paris). Jodie also feels she doesn’t fit in at home with her parents constantly talking about her height and comparing her to her beauty queen sister, Harper (Sabrina Carpenter).

Jodie also feels that she’ll never be able to date a boy because she wants someone taller than her. But when Swedish exchange student Stig (Luke Eisner) comes to her school, she feels she might finally have a chance.

Jodie goes on a journey through the ups and downs of a high school relationship, while learning to form and maintain understanding relationships with the people around her.

In the end, Jodie learns not only to accept herself for who she is but also to feel confident in her own body. She finds comfort in her family and friends, and she learns that the people around her also have struggles fitting in and insecurities she never knew about.

Themes

Bullying; not fitting in; rejection

Violence

Tall Girl has some violence. For example:

Harper throws knives at a target with a picture of another girl on it. One knife accidentally flings back and almost hits Jodie.
Jodie threatens to kick another character in the ‘nards’.
Jodie slaps Harper.
Characters say things like ‘I’m going to kill that kid’ and ‘I’m going to run him over’.
Jodie punches Dunk in the throat when he tries to wake her up.
There is a video of Dunk getting beaten up at a party.

Sexual references

Tall Girl has some sexual references. For example:

A person is referred to as ‘super-hot older sister’.
A young man walks into a classroom, and all the girls look at him longingly.
People talk about caesareans.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Tall Girl shows some use of substances. For example, people at a party hold up coloured cups with unknown drinks.

Nudity and sexual activity

Tall Girl has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

Jodie and Stig kiss on a tram multiple times.
Some people, who are all sitting in a room together, kiss their partners.
Jodie and Dunk kiss at the end of the movie.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Tall Girl:

Jodie says she’s wearing size 13 Nike shoes.
Jodie wears a Champion jumper.
Coca-Cola is in the school cafeteria.
Characters have Apple iPhones.

Coarse language

Tall Girl has some coarse language, including ‘crap’, ‘biatch’, ‘pissed’, ‘suck’ and ‘Jesus Christ!’ The movie also has some name-calling. For example, Jodie is called names like ‘sasquatch’ and ‘beanstalk’. She’s also bullied and told, ‘You’re the tall girl. You will never be the pretty girl’. People criticise some clothes because they look like they’re for ‘drag queens’.

Also, Harper says to Jodie, ‘If you see me eating carbs please knock it out of my hand’, because she doesn’t want to gain weight before her pageant.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Tall Girl is a teen coming-of-age romantic comedy with powerful messages about overcoming insecurities, valuing yourself for who you are and seeing the value in others. The movie is best suited to teenagers and older viewers.

These are the main messages from Tall Girl:

Accept, love and appreciate yourself for who and how you are.
Everyone has insecurities, and everyone is worthy of compassion and understanding.

Values in Tall Girl that you could reinforce with your children include acceptance of others, self-love, compassion, empathy, friendship and kindness.

Tall Girl could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the importance of being confident and comfortable with yourself and also accepting others as they are.