Teen Spirit (Max Minghella)

[TGM]

TEEN SPIRIT

Director: Max Minghella

imdb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6483364/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1)

[Ivan Drago]

I fucking loved this movie. There is a place where the plot moves forward a little too conveniently, and another minor subplot that doesn’t feel real, but little time is dedicated to it. What’s fascinating is its gritty aesthetic that stays consistent in conveying the dire straights of her family life, the stakes for Violet and her manager, and the dark side of music stardom no matter if the scene is in the dilapidated house of her family, or the neon-soaked nightclubs within the music scene. For a movie about a singing competition, it's refreshing to see it portrayed within a visual style that makes it look unglamorous at every turn. All the performances are great, and the music choices serve well in telling a character-driven story in a way that’s unique, compelling, and engaging. It's such a shame it didn't last longer than a week here, because it's terrific.

Also Zlatko Buric remains a brilliant, underrated actor.

[TGM]

Sadly, not surprised this didn’t last long in the theater. I saw this while I was up in NY. During that time, I’d say about 99% of the movies I went to were damn near sell outs. Didn’t matter what time of day or what day of the week, and didn’t matter how obscure the movie. For reference, went to a Wednesday afternoon screening of The Wandering Earth in its second week. When I pulled it up on my app, I had four seats left in the theater to choose from. And this sorta thing was a fairly common occurrence up there.

That all said, when I saw Teen Spirit opening weekend? Yeah, I was literally the only one in the theater. Can’t say I understand why, given the quality of the film, but needless to say, when even NY won’t see your movie, yeah, that shit ain’t gonna last long anywhere else.