In 1957, two kids meet at school in second grade. Their names are Juli Baker and Bryce Loski. They develop feelings for each other.

In sixth grade, Bryce starts spending time with this girl, Sherry Stalls. However, she later dumps him.

In seventh grade, Bryce and Juli get back together. But they do have their ups and downs.

There is a sycamore tree in the neighborhood that Juli likes to climb. She constantly resists coming down when arborists arrive to cut it down, even when they warn her that they’ll call the police if she doesn’t listen.

But at some point, her father calmly gets her to come down. Poor Julie is very sad that the tree is getting cut down. She cries for a while.

Luckily, her dad paints her a picture of the tree to remember it. Bryce hears about this in the local newspaper. Yet he is not impressed at all.

Sometime later, there is a school science fair coming up. Juli plans to show chicks hatching out of eggs.

She actually has a chicken coop in her backyard. As a kind gesture to the Loskis, she brings eggs to their house every day.

Bryce politely accepts them each time. Little does Juli know, though, that Bryce is secretly throwing them away right after.

She eventually finds out. Bryce says that he was doing it to protect his family’s health. But Juli still feels hurt.

When the school science fair happens, Juli presents her chicks hatching while Bryce presents his volcano erupting. Not only does Juli get most of the attention, but she actually wins.

Despite that, Juli begins to question if she really does like Bryce. Her family does invite him and his family over for dinner one night.

Unfortunately, it results badly between Bryce and Juli. What will happen next?

What makes this movie stand out from others is that the points of view constantly switch between Juli and Bryce. The story is told from both their points of views, including for each scene.

That makes them both the main characters. They are both well-developed, likable, relatable and flawed – including for a mid-20th century setting.

One thing I learned from this film that actually happened in the 1960s in real life what was that kids could bike to school and park their bikes in racks on campus. That included both elementary and junior high kids.

Schools rarely allow this today due to stricter child protection laws. That’s why it felt strange to me. I grew up in a time where that would have never been allowed unless a child lived close to the school and was supervised by a parent. But back in the early 1960s, child protection laws were nowhere near as strict as they are now.

Anyway, back to the review. Even though I know when the story is set, it is not revealed where it is set other than Mayfield, USA.

Because cultures are drastically different throughout various parts of America, i find it very unhelpful if the state the story is set in is not said. Characters could do certain things that I’m not familiar with. And I’m from New York – obviously part of the United States.

Yet I don’t let that flaw get in the way. Because the points of view are constantly switched back-and-forth from Juli to Bryce, it does help the pacing feel quicker.

Overall, I liked Flipped. It was a good watch with unique storyelling techniques.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.