Dare

I didn't expect much from Dare going in but was pleasantly surprised by its willingness to take chances and push its characters and its audience out of their comfort zones.

What elevates Dare above the usual high school fare is the quality of the writing by David Brind, crisp direction by Adam Salky and a uniformly attractive and compelling cast led by the delightful Emmy Rossum.

Though minor arcs play out in each piece, Dare lacks an overarching narrative to propel the entire film, so overall pacing feels uneven and long at just 90 minutes.

What might otherwise be an exercise in ordinary adolescent stories turns powerfully intimate through the wonderful performances that Salky coaxes out from the cast.