Wild Child

Wild Child is a 2008 teen comedy film directed by Nick Moore and starring Emma Roberts, Natasha Richardson, Shirley Henderson, Alex Pettyfer and Aidan Quinn, with Georgia King, Kimberley Nixon, Juno Temple, Linzey Cocker and Sophie Wu. Roberts portrays Poppy Moore, a wealthy and spoiled American girl who is sent to a boarding school in England by her widowed father, where she soon learns the true meaning of life and friendship. This was Richardson's final film role before her death the following year. Since its initial release, the film has gained a substantial cult following, being particularly popular in the UK where the film is set. Plot Poppy Moore, a wealthy but spoiled and rebellious girl from Malibu, California, damages and discards the belongings of her widowed father's new girlfriend, Rosemary. She grabs a handful of Rosemary's clothes and jumps into the ocean just as her furious father, Gerry, arrives. Gerry announces he will be sending Poppy to Abbey Mount, a boarding school in England, in the hopes that attending the school will turn her life around. When Poppy arrives at Abbey Mount, she is warmly greeted by the headmistress Mrs. Kingsley, and later the head girl, Harriet Bentley, who is disgusted by her sense of entitlement. Poppy learns to her dismay that the bedrooms are communal and is introduced to Kate, Josie, Kiki and Jennifer, also known as "Drippy". She is initially hostile towards her new roommates upon meeting them, and her behaviour gets them into trouble when she insults the Matron, who confiscates their cellphones and gives them three weeks of detention. When Kate asks Poppy about her mother, she reveals that she died in a car crash when Poppy was eleven years old. Kate lets Poppy use her actual cellphone to message her friend from back home, Ruby, who is secretly cheating with Poppy's boyfriend, Roddy. The girls decide to help Poppy get expelled from Abbey Mount by carrying out several pranks, which gradually brings them closer together. When none of their plans work, they decide to have Poppy seduce Mrs. Kingsley's son, Freddie, who is forbidden from fraternizing with the female students. After the girls go shopping at a charity shop, they take Poppy to a hair salon for a makeover, where hairdresser Mr. Christopher removes her blonde hair dye and reveals her natural brunette hair. At the school dance, Freddie rejects Harriet in favour of dancing with Poppy, much to Harriet's dismay.