Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower manages to tackle the obstacles of growing up while leaving the audience with a message of hope. With a powerhouse cast consisting of Emma Watson (Harry Potter) and Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief), this film is a heart-wrenching story of loss and the power of friendship in difficult times. Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a loner in High School who is desperate to make a friend. A budding writer, he eventually befriends his English teacher who provides him with books to read outside of school. Still unsatisfied, he musters up the courage to approach a boy in his wood shop class named Patrick (Ezra Miller), referred to the student body as “Nothing”. Through Patrick and his stepsister Sam (Emma Watson), Charlie is welcomed to the “island of misfit toys”, where he finds himself accepted for who he is. But underneath Charlie’s quiet exterior is a tormented soul, and it doesn’t take long for his new group of friends to start unearthing his tragic story, as well as for Charlie to realize his new friends aren’t so perfect themselves. The trailer for The Perks of Being a Wallflower does not accurately portray what this story is truly about. There is some pretty heavy stuff in this film; homosexual relationships, rape, drugs and suicide are all addressed at some point. What makes this movie stand out though is its ability to come out at the end with a sense of hope. The movie received an 86% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and garnered more praise from Jonathan Kim of Huffington Post: “There are plenty of movies about how tough high school can be for shy kids and outcasts. But the honesty of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I’m sure comes from the deep affection Chbosky has for the characters he created, makes the film feel both fresh as well as timeless by showing that sometimes you need role models to find yourself, but no matter how cool some kids seem, no one has it all figured out.”