Move over, Harry, Bella, et al. The big-screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games opens today, starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the heroine in the middle of a teenage deathmatch.

Mavis Gary, author of a once-popular series of young adult novels, is 37 years old. What that probably means, even though Jason Reitman’s new film doesn’t address it explicitly, is that she’s just a year shy of her 20th high school reunion. With that in mind, many of the events of Young Adult feel like a last ditch attempt to prepare for going back home and facing friends with impending middle age suddenly feeling uncomfortably and uncontrollably close. The years that seemed like eons to accomplish her ambitions vanished, and, in the grips of alcoholism, arrested development, and cold sweat panic, Mavis (Charlize Theron) decides the best course of action is to retreat from the big city for a little while and head back to the her small town roots. Oh, and while she’s there, to steal her high school sweetheart away from his wife and infant daughter. If she could pull it off, she’d sure make a splash at that hypothetical reunion next year.