Teenagers Erica (Zoey Deutch), Kala (Dylan Gelula) and Claudine (Maya Eshet) have found an unique way to make money. First Erica tempts men into compromising sexual situations, and then the other girls rush in with cameras to catch the men in flagrante with an underage minor. When not entrapping and blackmailing perverts, the girls spend their time at the local bowling alley ogling over regular customer Will (Adam Scott), whom they refer to as “hot old guy”.

Erica lives with her mother Laurie (Kathryn Hahn) and future step-father Bob (Tim Heidecker). Erica and her mother behave more like sisters than mother and daughter. Erica’s father is in prison, and she has been saving all of her earnings in hopes of one day being able to bail him out—though she doesn’t let her friends know this, instead, she tells them she’s saving to go to DeVry.

Bob—who goes by Sherm—is a nice guy, but Erica is not looking forward to having her living situation shaken up. Sherm’s son Luke (Joey Morgan) is being released from rehab, and will be moving in with the rest of the family. Luke is an odd, quiet, overweight young man who seems constantly stressed out. Luke and Erica’s first meeting is a bit awkward, especially when Erica offers her future brother a BJ to help ease his stress. As Erica tries to bond with Luke, she learns that he is so messed up because he had been fondled by a teacher when he was younger—and it turns out that that teacher was none other than hot old guy. So Erica mobilizes her partners in crime to help her take down Will, but it proves more difficult than she first imagined due to her personal attraction to the mark. But once they do put a plan into place, things take an unexpected, dark turn.

Flower is a darkly comedic drama—according to the audio commentary with director of the film, the film was originally written as a straight-up drama, and the humor was just a natural, unexpected aspect. The film takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride of emotions, starting off as a funny vigilante story with Erica and her friends, then gets slightly darker (but still funny) as Erica meets and tries to bond with her new future brother, then gets a lot darker and more serious as the vigilantes go on anther mission, and finally ends on a more fun, uplifting note. Zoey Deutch is delightful as the spunky Erica. She not only delivers Erica’s rapid-fire, quick-witted quips and sarcasm, but also conveys the drama of the character—you really get the sense that there is something deeper to Erica. Erica treats her work in such a clinical manner, not seeing it as anything more than a business transaction, and that comes through both in the writing and in the performance. Kathryn Hahn is also a lot of fun as Erica’s mother, and the sisterly relationship between those two characters leads to a lot of really funny moments. The relationship between Erica and Luke starts out awkward, but quickly grows to be a lot of fun. There is a hilarious scene as Erica explains her plan to trap Will to the girls, and Luke just looks on in horror like he’s thinking, “Am I the only one who thinks this is an absolutely horrible plan?!”. The film has so many fun, quotable one-liners, but all so very inappropriate.

Flower was mainly shot with handheld camera, which adds to the film’s overall feeling of wildness and craziness. The camera switches to a more standard steady cam shot as the film gets darker and more serious, which helps to really enhance this tonal shift. The movie also makes use of an excellent soundtrack, which ranges from pop music in the lighter moments of the film, to scores during some of the darker scenes. As the group is staking out Will’s house, the score in the background feels a lot like a homage to the theme from Fletch. The movie is a low budget indie film, but it never feels cheap or poorly made. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Lionsgate has only released the film on DVD, but the SD picture quality looks quite nice and detailed in both darker and lighter scenes, without any excessive noise or grain. The colors are a little washed out in some scenes, but this felt intentional. The audio track provides clear dialogue, an excellent musical soundtrack, and utilizes the surround and stereo to provide ambiance in some scenes—such as birds chirping in the opening of the film. The disc comes packed in a standard DVD keepcase without a slipcover. No digital copy is included, and the only bonus feature on the disc is an audio commentary with the director and star of the film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:33:36)

DVD:

• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Extras:

• Audio Commentary (1:33:36)
  Director Max Winkler and actress Zoey Deutch provide a fun and informative commentary, sharing many interesting behind-the-scenes stories about the production. The pair talk a lot about the other cast members, the wardrobe, the music, and the filming locations and logistics. They also explain the meaning of the title of the movie. The participants sometimes find themselves sucked into watching the movie and forget to talk about what’s happening on screen.
• Also From Lionsgate (7:24)
  Trailers for “The Hero” (2:29), “The Dinner” (2:30), and “Kings” (2:25).

Final Thoughts:

Flower is a fun dramatic comedy that ranges from hysterically funny, to dark and disturbing, to deeply dramatic, to romantic and heartwarming. Star Zoey Deutch delivers a standout performance, and is surrounded by a talented supporting cast. The DVD presentation is solid, and the disc contains an audio commentary. This release comes recommended based on the quality of the film—it would have easily bumped up to a highly recommended rating had there been a Blu-ray release or more bonus material.