The Duff, or also known as The Designated Ugly Fat Friend is a classic coming-of-age high school movie inspired by Kody Keplinger’s YA novel. It tells the story of Bianca Piper (Mae Whitman), an opinionated senior and super loyal to her friends Casey (Bianca Santos) and Jess (Skyler Samuels) who are both the epitome of “high-school hotties” whilst Bianca is apparently the complete opposite. The revelation of Bianca’s place on the social hierarchy scale comes from her neighbour, who is conveniently the hunky football team captain Wesley (Robbie Amell), as he enlightens her with the fact that she is a DUFF. Essentially, she is the DUFF that people use when trying to get close to her glamorous friends Jess and Casey, or in this case used by her crush Toby (Nick Eversman) as he attempts to cosy up with her friends (ouch). So, like any conventional high-school movie there is a makeover, and Bianca goes ahead this little reinvention with the help of Wesley.

Mae Whitman steps in, and really embodies Bianca Piper’s edgy sarcastic persona, which is somewhat of a change considering Whitman’s character avoids the conventional teen-girl portrayal compared to other coming-of-age high school movies. From her quick-witted replies to her body language itself throughout the movies, it is safe to say that Whitman’s performance was truly remarkable. Similarly, her co-star Robbie Amell first identifies as the popular All-American jock that actually turns out to be your ideal boy next-door.