16 AR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020Film
When “Now and Then” was released in
1995, it had the makings of a hit: an A-list
cast, a coming-of-age narrative about an
unbreakable sisterhood, a nostalgic filter
and an underlying mystery. At the time, it
was sidelined, panned by critics and large-
ly forgotten. That hasn’t stopped it from
gaining a cult following in the 25 years
since, becoming a touchstone for girls
yearning to be seen.
Even in the ’90s, a movie that focused on
the power of female friendships wasn’t ex-
actly reinventing the wheel — “Thelma
and Louise,” “The First Wives Club” and
“Romy and Michele’s High School Re-
union” were just a few of the films explor-
ing this theme. But only “Now and Then”
examined such friendships while also giv-
ing the complexities of girlhood a weight
that coming-of-age films typically ne-
glected.
Written by I. Marlene King and directed
by Lesli Linka Glatter, “Now and Then” fol-
lowed four preteens in Indiana grappling
with friendship, puberty and grief during a
life-changing summer in 1970. Samantha
(Gaby Hoffmann) is a loner fascinated by
the supernatural. Teeny (Thora Birch)
yearns for stardom. Roberta (Christina
Ricci) is a rebellious tomboy. And Crissy
(Ashleigh Aston Moore) is a naïve prude
who abhors cursing. They bond over ceme-
tery séances, games of Red Rover and the
mystery of what happened to a boy named
Dear Johnny.
In the “now” of 1991 (when the movie ac-
tually begins), the four — remembering
their childhood vow to always be there for
one another — reunite in their hometown,
where Chrissy is preparing to give birth.
It’s been a decade since they’ve been to-
gether, and they’re in drastically different
places: Samantha (now played by Demi
Moore) is a depressed sci-fi author and
Teeny (Melanie Griffith) is a movie star,
while Roberta (Rosie O’Donnell), a gyne-
cologist, and Chrissy (Rita Wilson), a
housewife, never left.
Released in October 1995, “Now and
Then” was a box office success, earning
$37.5 million worldwide on a budget of $12
million. But it was largely dismissed by
critics. Roger Ebert labeled it a “gimmicky
sitcom,” and The New York Times called it
“a little dull and much too predictable.” Re-
viewers generally considered the star-
studded cast of adults to be an unneces-
sary addition.
“Now and Then” was also flooded with
comparisons to — and ultimately over-
shadowed by — “Stand By Me,” the 1986
coming-of-age drama about four boys.
Both films were summertime retro-
spectives about close-knit friends during a
transitional period in their lives who were
faced with the realities of impending adult-
hood. But the earlier film was nominated
for two Golden Globes and an Oscar, while
“Now and Then” was snubbed and viewed
as derivative. With the exceptions of “The
Baby-Sitters Club” (also 1995), which
glossed over heavier subject matters, and
“My Girl” (1991), which wasn’t centered on
female friendship, few narratives at the
time focused on girlhood. It was as if girls
were supposed to see themselves through
boys’ eyes, not their own.
But thanks to a variety of factors — in-
cluding its stars, each with their own fol-
lowings, and repeated airings on cable TV
— the film became a sleepover staple and
won over new audiences through the
years. When fans rediscovered it was on
Netflix (it’s since left but can be seen on
Amazon Prime and iTunes), a Twitter
frenzy broke out.
In the way that “Sex and the City” devo-
tees identified as a Samantha or a Char-
lotte, viewers saw their personalities ech-
oed in the foursome — for instance, the
girlie Teeny or tomboy Roberta. For these
viewers, the flashback sequences make it a
quintessential summer film, an era-defin-
ing time capsule when Nancy Sinatra
boots, culottes and breezy bike rides were
common, and the Archies’ “Sugar Sugar”
and Tony Orlando’s “Knock Three Times”
were hits.
More important, “Now and Then”
showed tween girls as fully realized char-
acters who weren’t written off or second-
ary. Tackling death and grief, along with
budding sexuality gave their stories
weight when narratives about female ado-
lescence were often surface-level.
Take the search for Dear Johnny. It
proves to be a powerful force: a distraction
for Sam, whose parents are splitting up; a
connection for Teeny, who feels abandoned
by her absent country-club parents; an ad-
venture for a sheltered Chrissy; and a way
for Roberta to confront her mother’s death.
It’s this dark journey to uncover the town’s
hidden mystery about what happened to
Dear Johnny that helps the friends save
one another and discover themselves.
What also made “Now and Then” a sin-
gular force is the awkward preteen mo-
ments that often remain unspoken be-
tween friends and are rarely shown on-
screen. These inseparable girls can tell
each other about the pudding-filled bal-
loons they wear as they eagerly await de-
veloping breasts because “Jell-O is too jig-
gly” or that you can’t actually get pregnant
from a French kiss. In some ways, the mov-
ie can be seen as a blueprint for the tender,
cringeworthy moments between best
friends more than two decades later in
“Lady Bird” (bingeing on Communion
crackers while comparing notes on mas-
turbating) or the Netflix series “Never
Have I Ever” (making awkward TikTok
videos).
Though in the “now” of “Now and Then,”
the friends’ reconciliation initially reveals
cracks in their relationships. After the
birth of Chrissy’s baby, they find common
ground reminiscing about the summer of
1970 in their old treehouse. It’s an all-too-
familiar feeling of reuniting with childhood
friends and instantly realizing you’re cling-
ing to what connected you in the past and
struggling to relate in the present.
But the once-close friends yearn to be re-
united with their former preteen selves as
well, and opening up to one another is a
dose of nostalgia they need. In doing so, for
instance, Samantha can finally face that
she’s spent years alone because she
pushes people away. And it extends to re-
ality: Sometimes being with the people you
knew during your formative years can help
you admit uncomfortable truths that
you’ve avoided. Because even after any
time apart, they still know you best.
Years later, the film laid the groundwork
for “Pretty Little Liars,” an ABC Family se-
ries that followed four inseparable friends
and included murder mysteries and clan-
destine meetings in cemeteries. King, the
showrunner of that series, reunited with
Glatter, who directed the pilot and finales
for the first two seasons. Together they “re-
ally wanted it to be ‘Now and Then’ meets
‘Twin Peaks’ for teenage girls,” King told
Vulture.
The success of “Pretty Little Liars” also
renewed interest in “Now and Then.” Dur-
ing the third season of the show, King was
set to work on a TV version of the movie for
ABC Family, though it never got off the
ground. “They wanted to change it so the
‘now’ was present day and the ‘then’ would
be the ’90s,” King told Entertainment
Weekly. Moving the timeline from the
1970s “ruins how special the movie is,” she
said.
In 2020, the influence of “Now and Then”
can be detected in pop culture in other
ways. Without it, it’s possible that “Books-
mart,” “Eighth Grade” and “Lady Bird”
might not have seen critical success. Fur-
ther, coming-of-age movies for girls now
even seem like a popular trope. At its core,
“Now and Then” was about the intensity of
female friendship and the discomfort of
growing up — realities that we all know but
were finally acknowledged onscreen.NEW LINE CINEMAGirlhood Finally
Taken Seriously
‘Now and Then,’ about inseparable tweens and the grown-ups
they become, was dismissed in 1995. Today it’s cherished.
By ILANA KAPLANFrom top: from left,
Christina Ricci, Gaby
Hoffmann, Ashleigh
Aston Moore and Thora
Birch in the movie; the
girls as adults, from left,
Demi Moore, Rosie
O’Donnell, Rita Wilson
and Melanie Griffith; the
1995 “Baby-Sitters Club”
with, from left, Rachael
Leigh Cook, Schuyler
Fisk, Bre Blair and
Larisa Oleynik; the film’s
writer and director later
collaborated on “Pretty
Little Liars,” with, from
left, Lucy Hale, Shay
Mitchell, Ashley Benson
and Troian Bellisario.NEW LINE CINEMACOLUMBIA PICTURESBRUCE BIRMELIN/ABC FAMILYFour preteens
grappling with
friendship, puberty and
grief in summer 1970..