"Looking for Alibrandi" could be seen as an Australian take on the typical "coming of age" type movies from the 2000s. It follows a young girl named Josie and shows her complicated life coming from a family of all women, and her struggle attending an elite school while being on scholarship.
Josie comes from an Italian family and her grandmother is a conservative woman, who is comically shown to have eyes on her wherever she goes. Josie has dreams of becoming successful, but also has an unrequited crush on one of the elite sons from a boys' school, called John.
The turning point of the movie is when John commits suicide and it makes Josie rethink her own life decisions and happiness. Her father comes into her life as well, and Josie is filled with anger because of that as well, blaming him for leaving her pregnant mother.
Josie falls for Jacob, a typical bad guy trope with a soft heart. Josie eventually reconciles with her father, and they start making a normal father-daughter connection. She also discovers the truth about her grandmother, that Josie's mother is a product of her affair. The three women reconcile and accept their differences and the movie ends with a positive and hopeful note, where Josie finally accepts herself and her family with all their imperfections and sees herself as being blessed instead of cursed.
The movie has a lighthearted typical teenage atmosphere, but it explores serious topics like depression, family, making life choices and accepting oneself.
