Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax is tired of her wacky mom moving their family to a different town any time she feels it is necessary. When they move to a small Massachusetts town and Mrs. Flax begins dating a shopkeeper, Charlotte and her 9-year-old sister, Kate, hope that they can finally settle down. But when Charlotte's attraction to an older man gets in the way, the family must learn to accept each other for who they truly are.
Acting
Winona Ryder's internal monologue narration is pure anxious genius.
Costume
Those polka dots. That nun habit. The 1963 fashion is a character.
Writing
Charlotte's erotic fantasy sequences are hilariously specific.
Director
Richard Benjamin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Christina Ricci's film debut at age nine; she reportedly ad-libbed some of Kate's weirdest lines.
The film's November 1963 setting intentionally parallels Charlotte's personal JFK assassination—her innocence dies the same weekend America's did.
US
