“Lady Bird”, both a comedy and coming-of-age movie, has rightfully earned its five Academy Award nominations and its two Golden Globe Awards. The movie is based on the life of director Greta Gerwig, making the characters and story extremely believable.

The movie focuses on a teenage girl, Christine McPherson, living in Sacramento, California. Christine, played by Saoirse Ronan, is constantly looking for ways to assert her individuality—perhaps why she goes by the name of Lady Bird.

Lady Bird, with her pink hair and school uniform, seeks both to fit in and to stand out. Like many teenagers, Lady Bird struggles in school and faces issues with her friends and relationships with boys.

At home, Lady Bird struggles to connect with her tough-loving mother, Marion, played by Laurie Metcalf. Marion and her husband struggle financially, which creates tension between Marion and her ambitious daughter. This mother-daughter conflict is apparent throughout the story, especially when Lady Bird desires to leave her home state of California in order to go college in the midst of her family’s financial crunch. Lady Bird and SHS students alike have to go through the stressful college process and, ultimately, are faced with the discomfort of leaving home.

The movie covers the topics of virginity, friendship,  homosexuality, parent-child relationships, financial instability, and growing up. Lady Bird herself—both an individualist yet a conformist, sensitive, insecure, and ambitious—should be easy to relate to for a certain type of teenage girl. The actors are all exceptional at portraying their characters. “Lady Bird” is comical and moving, and should be watched by all high schoolers.