Pittsburgh, 1991. The painfully shy Charlie begins his first year of high school—the recent death of his best friend casting a shadow over his mental health. When he finds friendship in a pair of free-spirited seniors, Charlie rediscovers the joys of friendship, music, and first love.

When the book was released, Perks of Being a Wallflower was hailed as The Catcher in the Rye for a new generation of teen alienation. Adapting his novel to film, writer-director Stephen Chbosky continued to capture the painful particularities of being an adolescent and made a young millennial hit.