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seen this future before. Darkest is the latest YA dystopian book series to get the Holly- wood treatment, and re- ached the point where barely any effort to hide or tweak the common- alities: teens led by a char- ismatic unsung hero, super- powers, holding facilities, hunts, rebellions and be- yourselfmessaging. Thegenre, as adapted for multiplexes, the jugger- naut it was when Hunger blazed at theboxoffice.Thenagain,as movies, primarily beencontent to seem likeex- pensive TV rather than richly conceived, emotion- ally resonant sci-fi epics. Adapted by ChadHodge from Alexandra successful novels, andwitha trilogy inmind, director Jen- niferYuhNelson(thesecond and third Fu movies) aims for brisk and lively over anything too dark and foreboding. Something not too hard, not too soft, cushioned with montages, romance, and chummy laughter but suitably fierce when lives and suspended disbelief are on the line.

The result is something akin to a smooth car ride to an ex- pected destination, which might seem at odds when trying to convey a world in which of children have died and the other ei- ther imprisoned or relent- lessly pursued. In corner is a sympathetic, at-timesmag- netic lead in Amandla Sten- as Ruby, who in an extended opening voice- over narrates the cascading awfulness: classmates sud- denly convulsing thendying, partof apandemic targeting children; the strenuous ef- forts at finding a cure, led by hopeful words from a presi- dent (Bradley Whitford) with an afflicted son; then the fear that eventually spurs the government toput the surviving kids, who bo- aststrangepowers, intohell- ish camps. It was grade- school own parents, we learn, who called the au- thorities onher. As a 16-year-old, Ruby may be a prisoner but still hiding. At the camps, enforced color-labeling blunt metaphor for systematic racial segre- gation separates young- sters into a spectrum from green(supersmartandsafe) through gold (can manipu- late electricity, so mildly scary) to lastly, red(murder- ously dangerous, so kill them first).

Though Ruby lives as a green, secretly a marked-for-elimina- tion orange. Her gift allows her to see the pasts of those she touches but also make themdoanythingshewants. ly noticeable gifts is convey- ing how terrified Ruby is of her ownabilities. What kicks off the action is Ruby getting smuggled out of her camp by a com- passionate doctor (Mandy Moore). But she winds up joining a ragtag group of su- perpowered kids teleki- netic hunk and eventual ro- mantic interest Liam (Har- ris Dickinson), brainy geek Chubs (SkylanBrooks), and electric girl Zu (Miya is to find anunderground community of youth like them led by a mysterious figure called the Slip Kid.

They just have to avoid the many bounty hunters out there, one of whom is played by intimi- dating of starGwendolineChristie. The surprises that surprises and con- frontations zip right along under direction, but as a live-action debut af- ter her successful stewardship, feels like a checklist of perils to shake and points tomakerather thananevoc- ative, threatening yet recog- nizableworld ready to reveal deeper, expansive install- ments. In is- abandon- ment and unexplored deserve a better, less cookie-cut scaffolding on which to watch her be- come (the filmmakershope) the new Katniss. There will likely be those youngmovie- goerswho situa- tion seeing parallels in a girl of exploration of identity or simply the universal desire of every teenager to break free and fight authority. But for those already jaded by the onslaught of YA fantasy universes, Darkest is on the forgettably end of the coded spectrum.

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OPENSTODAY! NEWSAS IT HAPPENS. DELIVERED. Sign up for the free Los Angeles Times Breaking News Alerts. newsletters.latimes.com AT THEMOVIES Take by way of Florida Pro- can and got writer-director Augustine directorial debut, the audacious, anarchic girls-gone-wild comedy ver set deep in the heart of small-town Texas. Camila Morrone and Maia Mitchell star as Jessie andAngela, best friendsand high school dropouts, living with doofus brother Dustin (Joel Allen), and working at the local diner while dreaming of a beach- front vacation in Galveston for 17th birthday.

is their shared mantra, visions of sand, breezes and blunts dancing in their heads, their hotel room already paid for with their rent money. All they have to do is work 10 shifts in the next week easy, Frizzell carefully crafts the singular bond between these girls, who are more than friends; sisters, lovers, life partners, en- ablers and protectors. them against the world, which a nice or safe place for them. Men are a constant drug pals showing up to repo a TV at 7 a.m., an oldermanwhoshamesthem in a grocery store or their randy roommate Brandon (Kyle Mooney). But Frizzell never lets Jessie and Angela off the hook either when thegirls land in jail for a cou- ple of days, or show up at work high, the result of their own cockamamie deci- sionmaking.

Frizzell laces social com- mentary on race, class and gender throughout this raunchy female friendship comedy that also traffics in gross-out body humor. Anchored by a pair of effer- vescent and authentically lived-in performances from Mitchell and Morrone, ver is a sweaty, silly summer adventure, and a sincere shout-out to the power of best friendship. Darkest Rated: PG-13, for violence including disturbing images, and thematic elements Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes Playing: In general release Rated: for crude sexual content and language throughout, drug use and brief nudity all involving teens Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes Playing: ArcLight Hollywood REVIEW Wild best pals through it all The raunchy comedy is laced through with social commentary. By Katie Walsh ANGELA (MaiaMitchell), left, and Jessie (Camila Morrone) are a couple of Lone Star girls gone wild. A24 REVIEW The kids all right Youths face a familiar dystopian nightmare in the novel-adapted Darkest By Robert Abele.