Review: Beanie Feldstein takes center stage, with electrifying results, in coming-of-age story 'How to Build a Girl'

It was only a matter of time before Beanie Feldstein took a starring role, as she does in the exuberantly offbeat coming-of-age comedy “How to Build a Girl,” and make a glorious meal out of it.

Feldstein has gone from child actor to supporting player (“Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” “Lady Bird”) to co-lead — snagging a Golden Globe nomination for “Booksmart” — and here, she’s front and center where she belongs.

Feldstein plays Johanna Morrigan, a shy teenager living in a council estate in 1990s Wolverhampton, with her drummer dad (Paddy Considine), perpetually exhausted mum (Sarah Solemani), and four brothers — her favorite being the catty Krissi (Laurie Kynaston). It’s far too boring a life for a girl who reads Jane Austen and worships an array of idols on her bedroom wall ranging from the Bronte sisters to Elizabeth Taylor.

A word about that wall. It’s one of the most clever touches director Coky Giedroyc adds to the story, a lovely bit of fantasy as Johanna’s icons dispense advice. It also allows an array of cameos, including singer Lily Allen (as Elizabeth Taylor), Gemma Arterton (as Maria von Trapp), Michael Sheen (as Sigmung Freud, and former “Great British Baking Show” hosts Mel Giedroyc, the director’s sister, and Sue Perkins (as the Brontes).

Johanna sees her chance to expand her writing when she enters a “young gunslinger” contest for a London music magazine. The lads in the office — and they are all lads — like her writing but not her mousy high-school persona. So Johanna reinvents herself on the fly, with thrift-store clothes and cherry-red hair dye, to become Dolly Wilde, the sexiest and most acid-penned music critic Great Britain has ever seen.

Giedroyc and screenwriter Caitlin Moran, who adapted her own novel, run Johanna/Dolly through the many phases of her self-discovery journey — going from swoon fangirl to sexual adventuer to jaded rock critic, all before turning 17. The story also gives Dolly some delightful foils, from an exasperated literature teacher (Joanna Scanlan) to a moody pop star (Alfie Allen) who finds in Johanna a kindred spirit.

Feldstein, though playing a teen, shows she’s grown up enough to fill the screen with her winning personality, her abundant charm, and her stellar acting skills. She captures Johanna’s insecurity and her determination to rewrite her life, and isn’t afraid to take the character to the dark side. “How to Build a Girl” becomes Feldstein’s showcase, and she turns it into a surprising hit.

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‘How to Build a Girl’

★★★1/2

Available starting Friday, May 8, as a video-on-demand rental on most streaming platforms. Rated R for sexual content, language throughout and some teen drinking. Running time: 102 minutes.