Frankie, an aimless teenager on the outer edges of Brooklyn, is having a miserable summer. With his father dying and his mother wanting him to find a girlfriend, Frankie escapes the bleakness of his home life by causing trouble with his delinquent friends and flirting with older men online. When his chatting and webcamming intensify, he finally starts hooking up with guys at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a cautious relationship with a young woman. As Frankie struggles to reconcile his competing desires, his decisions leave him hurtling toward irreparable consequences. Beach Rats, a potent LGBT drama that won Best Director in this year’s Sundance is about a sexually confused boy who doesn’t have any idea what he wants to do. The strong presence of the central character, well-thought-out plot, and Eliza Hittman’s delicate direction makes Beach Rats one of the best American independent films this year.