Try Seventeen (2002)

Try Seventeen (2002), directed by Jeffrey Porter, is situated on the moral and philosophical plane, exploring the transition from adolescence to adulthood through the naive gaze of Jones Dillon, a 17-year-old who leaves home to reinvent herself in a bohemian world. The central conflict lies in the tension between the yearning for belonging and the seduction of disordered autonomy, where the protagonist navigates triangular relationships marked by infidelity and promiscuity. From a realistic anthropology, the work illustrates free will poorly exercised: Jones pursues human flourishing through ephemeral bonds, but these expose her to emotional fragmentation, revealing the natural law of sexuality as an order towards integral donation, not hedonistic consumption. There is no evident ideological contraband; the narrative subtly criticizes sexual relativism by showing its costs in loneliness and disillusionment, without promoting disruptive agendas. However, the excess of visual crudeness—explicit sex scenes, frontal nudity, and masturbation—raises the sensitive content to levels that blur any narrative virtue, turning the work into a risk for the formation of conscience, especially in young people. The R rating is justified by this erotic intensity, which prioritizes sensationalism over cheerful Chestertonian realism. Absent of transcendent grace or explicit redemption, it leaves a void that invites reflection on the natural order of bonds, but its visual execution vetoes its family accessibility. Ultimately, it prioritizes shock over wonder at human dignity.