Disclaimer: This article has spoilers of Sierra Burgess is a Loser. Read at your own risk!
Ah, Noah Centineo. Barb. A high school rom-com. Put that all together and it makes yet another popular Netflix movie. Titled Sierra Burgess is a Loser, Shannon Purser plays Sierra, a girl struggling to make it through the social trials of high school due to Veronica (Kristine Froseth) belittling her because of her appearance before the two enemies become friends when they decide to trick Jamey (Centineo) into believing he is texting and calling Veronica, meanwhile Sierra is the one actually talking to him.
In the beginning of the movie, I liked Sierra. I thought she was a character everyone could relate to. We all have our insecurities, and all of us have felt inadequate compared to others. But never once have I tried to trick someone into liking me by catfishing. Personally, I think the concept is a little weird, and kind of creepy. I get where Sierra is coming from, how she wanted someone to like her for her, and not her looks, but I don’t think catfishing is the way to go about that. I don’t think it sends the right message to younger audiences. Usually when someone catfishes, they don’t get a boyfriend afterwards.
I also was not a big fan of how quickly Veronica forgave Sierra for posting that crude photo on her Instagram. A real friend would never do that to someone, especially over a boy, and definitely not when said boy didn’t even know them. Sierra saw Jamey and Veronica kiss briefly, and jumped to the biggest conclusion without even consulting anyone. I found it to be incredibly unrealistic. As soon Veronica listened to Sierra’s song, she went over to Jamey’s house to get him to like Sierra, even after Sierra had been so mean to Veronica. While Veronica showed she was sorry for bullying Sierra, Sierra had never done the same for her actions. They only shared a look and a hug at the end of the movie with no apologies necessary, apparently.
The end of the movie felt rushed to me. The stills with the explanations of what happened to the characters were kind of boring, and all of their outcomes seemed incredibly cliche. And though I know it was a feel-good kind of movie, I kept waiting for a dramatic ending, a plot twist, some sort of action, and it fell short. I was kind of disappointed that I wasted my time watching.
While the sets, cinematography, and costumes were all amazing, the major fault I had with the movie was that it was incredibly unrealistic. Although high school is incredibly tough, and people definitely get bullied, I felt like most of the characters that Sierra went to school with were a little too mean. There was not really an explanation of why Veronica hated Sierra so much, where she constantly called her a reject and trashed her looks. It just seemed to be because Veronica was so nasty, but we quickly learned that wasn’t the case, that it was mostly all an act. Realistically, if someone doesn’t know you, no one is going to crash into you in the hallways because of your appearance, blast private Instagram pictures on the scoreboard at the football game, or make fun of you in the bathroom for taking too long to wash your hands. The only realistic part about the movie to me was the wooden brick bathroom pass, as teachers in high school love to make the most ridiculous objects into hall passes.
Sierra Burgess is a Loser isn’t necessarily the biggest loser when it comes to teenage rom-com movies. The actors were great, I was obsessed with all the fashion choices, and they tried to get a message of body positivity and self-love across. Effort was put into making the movie, clearly, but I would encourage you to watch to form your own opinion yourself!