Zoey Deutch in Flower (The Orchard)

Flower discreetly opens with Erica (Zoey Deutch), a high school student, performing oral sex on a police officer by the side of the road in a police car. She goes on to blackmail the officer, aided by her two friends and their recording smartphones. Erica hustles cash so she can bail her father out of jail, and later in the day, she goes to meet her soon to be stepbrother, Luke (Joey Morgan), as he is released from rehab. Quickly, Erica discovers  the source of Luke’s anxiety, and the team of Erica, her two cohorts, and Luke join up to get revenge on what troubles him.

With vibes of The Craft’s anger and Mean Girls–level revenge, Flower has the makings of the next coming-of-age teen cult classic. That is until the end, when the movie takes a nosedive. Flower’s theme of taboo romance really comes forward in its last two scenes. In fact, the whole movie echoes the sentiment of taboo romance in one way or another throughout, but the blatant endgame relationship will easily throw the audience for a loop. It is not out of character per se, but it feels wrong.

Despite that, Flower is dark and delightful. There’s something thrilling about a group of teenagers executing their over-the-top schemes that would never work in the real world. Erica and company have the confidence like the most iconic, cool movie teens. The comedic timing is often brilliant, too. Erica’s interaction with her mother, Laurie (Kathryn Hahn), is especially a home run. Their dynamic is a classic mother and daughter against the world, though their relationship is being tested, as Laurie is about to remarry.

Despite Flower’s piece-of-work characters, the movie falls into an all too familiar pattern for teenage rebellion movies. Yet there is a lot that works in Flower’s favor: candid teen characters, a certain millennial nonchalance, and an easy to follow plot. The con is, the film is too easy resolved.