The First Time

Two high school students meet at a party and end up talking in a back alley until morning. Dave is in love with his best friend and Aubrey has a boyfriend. The film covers one weekend and is almost entirely conversation. Jon Kasdan wrote and directed. Dylan O'Brien and Britt Robertson lead. It premiered at Sundance in January 2012, opened in limited release that October, and was essentially never seen: 92,654 dollars worldwide, only 22,836 of it domestic. Reviews split. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 47 percent and Metacritic at 55. Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times found much to like, a sense of nuance and non-judgmental emotional openness, while saying Kasdan's teenage miniaturism never quite blooms. Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times praised it as a sweet, low-key comedy that avoids most of the genre's traps. Who it is for: viewers who like talk-driven, incident-free films about being young. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for a big moment. The film stays small, and chose to.