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Funny and exhuberant, Allan Moyle's New Waterford Girl is a generous rites-of-passage film with effortless empathy and lashings of local colour. The setting is a Nova Scotia backwater in the 1970s. Mooney Pottie is a worldly, sharp-witted 15-year-old who doesn't suffer the Catholic yokels gladly. An ostentatious moper and a wide-eyed dreamer, she possesses a singular brand of gorgeous, gawky poise. New Waterford is a town where the Virgin Mary is always watching, where a girl's reputation must remain pristine and where those who leave, tend to leave in shame. When Bronx native Lou Benzoa and her family move in next door, Mooney is swept up in her thrill-seeking wake. Desperate to fit in, Lou strikes up a friendship with the local tough gals when she takes a swing at the men who have crossed them. Lou and Mooney soon concoct a devious plan to help them escape the tedium of New Waterford, needless to say, reputations are compromised along the way. Delightful dark comedy, an unorthodox and entertaining journey, charm and witty dialogue make New Waterford Girl an original and memorable slice of small town life.