All versions of myself live inside me, but one of my favorite childhood memories was sitting on a couch in 2012, heading my older brother  go on and on about his new favorite movie. A few years later, as a teen, I watched this movie and experienced life differently ever since.

 The film is about an alienated high-school freshman who sees himself as an outsider. One day, he’s casually befriended by a group of seniors who thrive in their non-conformist status.

The movie confirms one of many teen movie cliches : If you are too popular in high school, you may become so attached to the feeling, that you never find who you really are. The film is based on Stephen Chbosky’s best-selling young-adult novel, which was published in 1999 and is now on many shelves. It offers the rare pleasure of an author directing his own book, and doing it well. No one who loves the book will complain about the movie, and especially not about its near-perfect casting.

The story, set in the early 1990s, tells the story of Charlie (Logan Lerman), who begins it as a series of letters to a “friend.” He enters high school with extreme nerves and without confidence, and is smacked in the face by the universal freshman crisis: Where will I sit in lunch? Let down at several tables, he’s welcomed by two smart and sympathetic seniors.

They are Samantha and Patrick, half siblings, played by Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. Sam is a sarcastic, flirty, beautiful girl that Charlie sets his eye on. Patrick is her gay, funny, brother who keeps Charlie under his wing. During the movie it becomes clear that the death of his aunt played a key role in his raising and he experiences many flashbacks of when she was alive.

In his group of three, he goes through a vivacious freshman year while awaiting the upcoming goodbye as they leave for college and he stays behind. He wonders what he’ll do without them but squeezes every last euphoric moment with them.

Their crowd is artsy, outsider, non-conformist and while they weren’t the popular senior jocks or cheerleaders, they made him happier than anyone else could. Charlie wanted a home, not in four walls but in a group that loved him for who he was. They become the influence that rescues Charlie from his deep insecurity and his depression over multiple losses. They teach him it’s ok to be who he is. In his first year he dabbled a little in everything a high school student could think about, but a lot in friendship.

He’s also guided by Mr. Anderson (Paul Rudd), his English teacher, who steers him toward his passion for reading and knowledge, following the eternal trope of an English, drama, or history teacher becoming mentors and inspirations. In a plot twist, Charlie’s aunt brought him more trauma than possibly imagined. After the tears roll down your cheeks, the awkward freshman you once knew, starts to open up as the boy made of glass.

Perks of Being a Wallflower deserves points for going beyond the typical coming-of-age films aimed at teens. Chbosky’s compassion for his characters lacks in existence creating plots that bring self pity for exotic characters. After the credits appear if there’s anything the movie leaves you, it’s speechless.