You have to be ready, in watching this one, to suspend disbelief and accept the world of the movie for what it is. On the one hand, you have a story about a young girl growing up, experiencing her first love, realizing her neurodiversity and coming to terms with loving herself. On the other hand, you have the zanier stories of the weird, often nutty and larger-than-life adults around her. It's a story where these worlds coexist as one. If anything, you get the feeling that one could not exist without the other.
Newcomers Shayelin Martin and Mikayla Kong are stars. Zooey Schneider as the little sister has some of the best lines in the movie. Tania Webb as the mom is an understated revelation, and Patrick McKenna as the goofy dad could not be more expressive. Colin Mochrie is a riot as sort-of-exterminator Gil, Tara Strong embodies the voice of not-quite-evil doll Captain Cassiopeia, and Debra McGrath as a kindhearted art teacher takes what could have been a one note role and fills it with depth and humor. Steven He radiates kindness as the boy too old for Maggie to fall in love with, and Jordyn Gillis is every middle school mean girl you've ever met.
Watch, accept the silliness and the seriousness as part of the same soup, and enjoy.
