Alex Sichel received a grant from the Princess Grace Foundation to make a film about the riot grrrl music scene and then asked her sister to collaborate with her.

This film focuses on Claude (Alison Folland), a tomboy teenage girl who lives with her divorced mother in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, and is the story of her sexual discovery and budding lesbianism during summer vacation.

Claude discovers that Luke (Pat Briggs), a gay musician who has just moved into her apartment building, has been stabbed to death in what might have been a hate crime.

Claude then goes to a gay bar and meets Lucy (Leisha Hailey), a pink-haired guitarist who is playing in the house band.

Claude threatens to tell the police about Mark's possible involvement in Luke's death due in large part that she is worried that he is leading Ellen down a dark path.

The site's consensus reads: "All Over Me takes a serious, sensitive approach to teen lives and romantic relationships that are all too often ignored or misunderstood".

[6][7] They praised the Sichel sisters for telling a story of adolescence and friendship which is at once honest, realistic and authentic, while remaining subtle, subdued and compassionate.

[7] Its detractors included Don Willmot, who found it melodramatic, and E!, which described it as titillating but contrived; "a walk on the mild side".

[12] With its coming-of-age theme and exploration of teenage sexuality, All Over Me drew comparisons from critics to other films, in particular Larry Clark's Kids and Maria Maggenti's The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, both from 1995.

[6] SplicedWire called it " an ideal companion feature for Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse, another female-centred coming-of-age film from the mid-1990s.

[16] LGBT publication The Advocate considered it to be an improvement upon Slaves to the Underground, a film also released in 1997 that focused on lesbianism and the 1990s alternative music scene.

[20] It features songs from several indie and riot grrl musicians interspersed with parts of Navazio's score.