When Charlie makes his first friends, they take him through a tunnel, where he finally has a sense of belonging.

The film The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows Charlie in his high school journey. Throughout the story, Charlie moves forward from prior traumatic events which caused him to struggle in building friendships. This lack of companionship left Charlie feeling lonely. 

With time, Charlie accepted the traumatic experiences and began to heal, leading him to move past what anchored him down. Charlie then found a group of friends, all of whom were seniors. 

The first senior he met was Patrick in a workshop class. Later, he encountered Patrick again at a football game which led him to the second senior being Patrick’s step-sister, Sam. Instantly, the three clicked and became friends. When the two seniors brought Charlie to a small party, they realized that Charlie didn’t have any friends. 

From then on, Charlie created closer bonds with Patrick and Sam, along with other mutual friends. The group participated in various activities with each other like Secret Santa and plays. 

During lunch, Charlie noticed that a few people were bullying Patrick. While Charlie defended Patrick, it caused him to black out. Afterward, he realized that he had beaten up the bullies. This situation caused him to re-experience trauma, which spiraled into nightmares, obsessive thoughts, and flashbacks. 

 Charlie, through time and new friends, eventually healed and truly moved on in overcoming his past.

I give The Perks of Being a Wallflower an 8.5/10.