The story is narrated by Olive Penderghast, a 17-year-old high school student living in Ojai, California, speaking into her webcam. Desperate to avoid going on a camping trip with her best friend Rhiannon Abernathy and Rhiannon’s hippie parents, Olive dishonestly claims she is going on a date with a college boy that weekend; truthfully, she stays home all weekend listening to “Pocketful of Sunshine” from a musical greeting card her grandmother sent her. Pressed by Rhiannon the following Monday, Olive eventually lies about having lost her virginity to her fictional date. Prudish, devout Christian student Marianne Bryant overhears their conversation, and Olive’s story soon spreads throughout the school.
The school’s church group, run by Marianne, decides to “save” Olive from her supposed promiscuity. Olive confides the truth to her classmate Brandon, a gay student who is bullied for his sexual orientation. She agrees to serve as his “beard” and pretend to have sex with him at a teen party so people will believe he is straight. After a fight with Rhiannon, Olive decides to embrace her new reputation as a “tramp” and begins to dress more provocatively. She stitches a red “A” onto her clothes, inspired by Hester Prynne from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, which she has been reading in English class.
Boys who have had no previous luck with girls beg Olive to increase their popularity by letting them claim they have had sex with her, which she does in exchange for gift cards to various stores. Marianne’s boyfriend Micah contracts chlamydia from having sex with the school guidance counselor, Mrs. Griffith, but claims Olive was the one who gave it to him. Because Mrs. Griffith’s husband, Mr. Griffith, is Olive’s favorite teacher, she accepts the blame to spare their marriage. The church youth group, now including Rhiannon, begins harassing Olive in an attempt to get her to drop out of school.
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Director: Will Gluck
Writer: Bert V. Royal
Stars: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley
Budget: $8,000,000.00
Revenue: $75,026,327.00
Category: Comedy
