Wasted On The Young

My friend Janelle just spent the better part of her life the past year getting Wasted On The Young ready for viewing. I see why now. I also think I need to start making money so I can afford to employ Janelle. Wasted On The Young is a disturbing film about the extremes to which spoiled rich teenagers will take bullying and cliques. Bully meets Skins, and then some. I think it marks a coming of age for Australian films. The DOP captures mood with his lighting, his framing and quite definitely colour. It feels like a Kiwi film. No offence, but our cousins on the other side of the Tasman are famous for cinematography and particularly for dark tales of the soul. Wasted On The Young transcends the usual teenage angst, taking violence, ambition and unchecked egos to a place they should never be. It holds a mirror to today's society where parents don't want to know what their children are doing.

I left the Palace Centro, where it was screened for the Brisbane International Film Festival, with a sick feeling in my stomach. My visceral response means only one thing: it is an amazing script and film, despite glamourising grammar schools and teenage drug use. I wanted to punch the director. If I didn't know Janelle, I would have completely bagged the director, but her integrity as a producer makes it impossible for me to believe anything other than in the authenticity of the script.

To all those who moan about Australian scripts today, you can stop now. Wasted On The Young signals a turn for the better.