The DUFF

The DUFF (teen slang for "Designated Ugly Fat Friend") is a 2015 American high school teen comedy film directed by Ari Sandel. The screenplay by Josh Cagan was based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Kody Keplinger. The film stars Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Nick Eversman, Skyler Samuels, Bianca Santos, Allison Janney, and Ken Jeong. The DUFF was distributed by CBS Films via Lionsgate. CBS also produced the film with Vast Entertainment and Wonderland Sound and Vision. It was released on February 20, 2015, and was the first film for which Lionsgate took over CBS Films' distribution functions. It received positive reviews from critics, with Cagan's screenplay and Whitman's and Thorne's performances receiving acclaim. Comparisons were frequently drawn to the cult teen films Mean Girls (2004) and Easy A (2010). Against a budget of $8.5million, the film grossed $43million at the box office. Plot Bianca is enjoying her senior year of high school in the suburbs of Atlanta with her two best friends, Jess and Casey, both of whom are significantly more popular than she is. Her neighbor is Wesley, the captain of the football team, who was her childhood friend. Bianca reluctantly attends a party hosted by mean girl Madison, Wesley's "on-again, off-again" girlfriend with hopes of talking to her guitar-playing crush Toby. At the party, Wesley casually brings to Bianca's awareness that she is the "DUFF" of her friend group—an acronym which stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend. He explains that the DUFF does not necessarily have to be ugly or fat, it is merely the person in a social group who is less popular, and therefore more accessible, than the others in the group. People exploit the DUFF to get to the popular people. Bianca is insulted and devastated, but she soon realizes Wesley is right: the students in her high school are only interested in her as a way to get to Jess and Casey.