I doubt if I’d have chosen this teenage film… but my son gave it to me, and said that I would probably like it. He was correct :-) Lindsay Lohan is extremely good as the home educated Cady (pronounced Katie) who grew up in the African bush, but finally starts American high school at the age of sixteen. She finds it bewildering at first, with so many different cliques, but is adopted by two rather strange people… and then finds herself part of the ‘plastics’ set. These are attractive but not particularly intelligent girls who consider themselves role models and fashion leaders.

Cady begins by laughing at the idiocies of the ‘plastics’ but gradually becomes drawn into their world, including being nasty about some of the other students and teachers.

The plot is a bit bizarre, and I find it hard to believe that any high school could actually be that unpleasant… but Cady’s development as a character works well, and it’s encouraging that a popular teen film is (basically) so positive about homeschooling. She certainly appears to be the most well-balanced and interesting person in her entire grade, seeing much of the behaviour of her classmates as barely distinguishable from the wild beasts she has come across in Africa. A pity her parents are portrayed as so weird… but less so than some of her new friends’ parents!

There were some moments that made us laugh aloud; all in all, I thought it an enjoyable and well made film, albeit not very deep.