Genre: Drama
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer: Alex Conn
Based on the book by Tegan and Sara Quin
Cast: Elle Fanning, Chloe Sevigny, Haley Lu Richardson, Beanie Feldstein, Logan Miller, Marco Perella, Will Kindrachuk
Plot: Twins Tegan (Elle Fanning) and Sara (Elle Fanning) run out of the their house toward their mother's car. Sara gets to the car first, but Tegan yells "shotgun" to get the front seat. Tegan tries pushing her way to the front seat, but Sara pushes her back insisting that her "shotgun" didn't count because she was already at the car. Their mother Jane (Chloe Sevigny) starts walking toward the car and tells them to stop arguing. Tegan and Sara both go for the front seat again, so Jane tells them both to sit in the backseat.
At school, everyone is called into the gymnasium for an assembly. As soon as the principal starts talking about the school's zero tolerance policy regarding drugs on campus, Tegan sneaks out of the gym, telling her teacher she's having feminine problems. Tegan leaves the school and meets her friend Naomi (Beanie Feldstein) across the street in a park. Tegan and Naomi smoke weed behind a tree. Naomi tells Tegan that her parents are transferring her to a Catholic school on the other side of town. Meanwhile in the gymnasium, Sara is sitting with her friend Kayla (Haley Lu Richardson) as they whisper jokes about the principal to each other.
Sara and Tegan sit in their bedroom. Sara digs something out from her nightstand drawer and tells Tegan that it is LSD. Tegan takes a tab and lays back on her bed. Sara looks over at her sister, then follows suit and consumes a tab. Sara then closes her eyes and lays back next to her sister. When Sara opens her eyes and sits up, she says that she feels like the room is spinning. Sara then notices that Tegan is in front of their mirror doing her makeup like a clown. Sara starts laughing at Tegan's face and then throws up all over her bed.
Sara is at a record store in the mall looking through all the latest releases. She recognizes one of the clerks as a guy from school, Matthew (Logan Miller). He starts chatting with her and jokes about the boring school assembly they had to sit through. Matthew then takes her to the Alternative section and hands her a CD: the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. She asks if it's any good, and he says it's amazing. She isn't sure about buying it, so Matthew takes the CD from her and puts it in her bag. She gives him a confused look, and he tells her not to mention anything, just listen to it. When Sara gets home, she pops Siamese Dream into her Discman and begins swaying and singing along to the album. Tegan enters the room and begins laughing at the sight of her sister dancing and swaying with her headphones on. Sara takes her headphones out and plugs her Discman into a speaker so Tegan can hear the music as well. Sara says that she is pretty sure it is the best album she's ever heard before.
Tegan and Sara are in the car with their father Bruce (Marco Parella). They hand him a CD to put on the stereo. He obliges and inserts Nirvana's In Utero. When the song "Rape Me" begins to play, Bruce turns off the stereo in disgust. He removes the disc and tosses it out the window of the moving car. Tegan yells at her father for throwing out their music. Bruce says that girls their age shouldn't be listening to songs about rape sung by some mopey loser. Tegan argues with Bruce, telling him that the song is about defending rape victims. Sara just sits there, too uneasy with the argument to join in on either side. Bruce says that he's done arguing. He gives Tegan a $10 bill to buy a new copy of the CD, but tells her that he doesn't want to hear junk like that in his car ever again. Tegan is still annoyed, but accepts the money.
Kayla is over at the house with Sara and Tegan for a sleepover. Kayla asks Jane for advice with boys since her mom isn't around. Jane laughs at the question, joking that not even her own daughters have come to her for any advice about boys. Jane then asks her daughters why that is. Sara clams up, not sure of what to say. Tegan, however, makes a joke about why she would ask a divorcee about relationships. Jane seems upset for a moment, so Tegan chimes in that she was just trying to make a joke.
Tegan and Sara are at Bruce's house, helping him organize stuff in his basement. Tegan finds an old guitar in a box and asks her father if she can have it. Bruce tells her it's hers. Tegan runs up the stairs with the guitar and sits down to try to play it. Sara goes with her and together they take turns practicing on the guitar, leaving Bruce to organize the basement by himself.
Sara, Tegan and Kayla all ride the bus together to see Green Day in concert. Tegan jokes about wanting to crowd surf and hit some people in the mosh pit. When they enter the venue, they are surprised by the arena style seating. Kayla jokes that they won't be able to crowd surf or mosh with chairs everywhere.
At school, Tegan is asked out on a date by Spencer (Will Kindrachuk). After being egged on by Kayla, Tegan accepts. Tegan and Spencer walk down the halls of the school. Spencer puts his arm around Tegan, but she is clearly uncomfortable with this and moves his arm off of her.
Tegan and Sara are in their bedroom practicing on the guitar some more. Jane calls them for dinner, but they are so wrapped up in their music that their dinner gets cold. Jane enters the room and tells the girls to keep it down since she's going to sleep. Before she leaves, Jane tells them that she put their dinners in the fridge, so they can heat their plates up if they get hungry.
Sara and Tegan get excited to see Naomi is back in their class, now with short, buzzed hair. Tegan gives Naomi a hug as Sara compliments the new hair style. Sara gives Naomi's head a rub. Tegan asks her what happened with the Catholic school, and Naomi says that the school wasn't really fond of her lifestyle choices. Sensing that the twins are confused, Naomi says that she came out as a lesbian and the school kicked her out.
After class, Sara asks Naomi what being a lesbian is like. Naomi says that she doesn't feel any different than how she felt before really since she always felt she liked girls instead of boys. Sara nervously kisses Naomi on the lips. Naomi laughs, joking that she always thought one of the twins would be gay. Naomi then kisses Sara back.
Sara and Naomi are skipping class to make out by the school's loading dock. Naomi interrupts the kissing to tell Sara that she has some big news: she is moving to Montreal with some friends after her parents kicked her out. Sara is hurt that Naomi is leaving her. Naomi invites her to come along, but Sara declines saying she can't do something like that. As Sara jumps down from the loading dock, she slips and breaks her arm.
Sara is back at home with a large cast on her arm, which is keeping her from being able to play guitar. She starts singing a song she is working on. Tegan walks in and grabs her guitar and starts playing along. Tegan asks her sister what the song is about, and Sara admits that the song is about Naomi moving to Montreal.
At school, Spencer once again reaches to put his arm around Tegan as they walk down the halls. Tegan once again stops him and tells him that she doesn't feel comfortable in their relationship. Spencer asks her if she's breaking up with him, and Tegan nods her head.
Jane drives her daughters to play their music in public for the first time at a club's open mic night. They play two songs with Tegan on guitar while Sara sings lead, still in her large arm cast. After their songs, Jane tells her daughters that she is proud of them for making the effort to follow their dreams. Sara comments that she wants to get her cast off already so she can play guitar again.
Sara is alone in her room when Jane enters and asks her what has been upsetting her recently. Sara admits that she just got out of a relationship. Jane asks who it was with and Sara confesses that she had been seeing Naomi. Jane is upset that Sara didn't tell her about the relationship. Jane tells Sara that it has nothing to do with the relationship being with another girl, but that she feels hurt that her own daughter wouldn't be honest with her. Jane gives her daughter a hug, and Sara begins crying in her mother's arms.
The weekend before graduation, Kayla invites Sara and Tegan to play their music at a graduation party she is throwing. Kayla is disappointed that not very many people have arrived for her party, but Sara and Tegan decide to start playing their music anyway. Sara and Tegan begin playing "I Don't Owe You Anything" - the song Sara wrote about Naomi. The small number of their classmates who are present begin dancing and cheering.
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