Do you remember your first crush? The first time someone gave your stomach butterflies, made your cheeks burn bright pink, or forced you to stumble over your words? Having a crush is simultaneously one of the most terrifying and exhilarating things you can experience—especially when you’re young.

Molly Maxwell (opening this Friday) is the debut feature-length film by Canadian writer/director Sara St. Onge. It tells the story of 16-year-old Molly Maxwell, a confused teenager trying to figure out her place in the world—and her place in high school, for that matter.

It’s not a comfortable film, and I mean that in a good way. It’s as awkward and messy as teenage life itself, making it a sincere portrayal of a young girl’s confusion.

“I find that it’s such an incredible turning point in your life, being a teen transitioning into adulthood,” says St. Onge. “There’s so much interesting content there that remains unexplored in an untraditional way.”

The character of Molly (played by the amazing Lola Tash) is electric. She seems confident on the outside, like many teenagers—but deep down, she’s just as confused as everyone else. She struggles with what classes to take at her arts high school, connecting to her friends, and obeying her parents.

“I became interested in creating a character who I could relate to as teen,” St. Onge says. “I noticed a lack of characters who I could see myself in growing up. I wanted to create someone who wasn’t striving to be a cheerleader or date the captain of the football team.”

Early on, we see Molly develop a crush on Mr. Carter (Charlie Carrick), her young, handsome English teacher. What results is a very rickety, at times passionate, at other times cringeworthy, relationship. St. Onge herself is no stranger to crushing on older men —her husband is 10 years her senior.

“I remember having crushes on guys who were a few years older than me in high school and feeling like they lived in a completely different universe than I did,” she says.

St. Onge is aware that she’s exploring a controversial subject, but she feels it was important to portray this story from a young girl’s perspective—through the ups and downs, the confusion and butterflies, as she experienced them.

“I wanted to enable Molly to make the choice for herself for how she was going to see the relationship in her life,” St. Onge says. “Everyone else may have an opinion, but I wanted to empower her to make the decision for herself in the end.”

And she pulled it off. Molly Maxwell is an interesting and sincere film that, notably, is not only filmed in Toronto, but actually based in Toronto. Characters make reference to Toronto Island, Kensington Market, and other staples that make the city what it is. It was a conscious choice by St. Onge to show what she loves about her adopted city (she moved to Toronto in 2005). In the film we see Toronto through Molly’s eyes, as she ebbs and flows through the tumultuous experiences of teenagedom.

“A character at that age is trying things, and failing, and picking back up, and trying and failing again, and I think that’s a valuable thing,” says St. Onge. “We don’t put a lot of importance on that these days. We try to give teens so much confidence by not letting them fail, and all we’re doing is not allowing them to grow.

“I wanted Molly to have a full spectrum,” she continues. “I felt it was important to show a female teenage character who had that sense of self, and desires, and the ability act on them—or at least the bravery to try.”