Review from The Film Stage:
Excerpt:
"...The result is imperfect (the acting can be uneven outside of Howard’s innate talent to demand the undivided attention of everyone on-screen and off), but its messaging and execution is a lot more resonant than I expected going in—a less successful sibling to Blinded By the Light. My initial interest in watching mainly stemmed from the soundtrack (I’m a Smiths fan) and Dean’s criminal activities recalling Airheads, so I wasn’t therefore expecting to find a poignant riff on coming-of-age party films from the 90s (Can’t Hardly Wait and the like) that digs deeper into the collective psyche of teen angst without ignoring the impact of topics that have recently relinquished the taboo label that kept them unspoken back then (albeit superficially). It’s time the “freaks” took over."
Grade: B-
Shoplifters of the World Review: Helena Howard and Ellar Coltrane Embark on a Music-Filled Journey of Self-Discovery
by Jared Mobarak, March 24, 2021Shoplifters of the World Review: Helena Howard and Ellar Coltrane Embark on a Music-Filled Journey of Self-Discovery
The Smiths are dead. That's the news Cleo (Helena Howard) punctuates with a scream loud enough to wake everyone in Denver, Colorado but her own passed out drunk mother on the couch. So she drives to the one place she knows she'll find a kindred spirit: the record store. Dean (Ellar Coltrane) is...
thefilmstage.com
Excerpt:
"...The result is imperfect (the acting can be uneven outside of Howard’s innate talent to demand the undivided attention of everyone on-screen and off), but its messaging and execution is a lot more resonant than I expected going in—a less successful sibling to Blinded By the Light. My initial interest in watching mainly stemmed from the soundtrack (I’m a Smiths fan) and Dean’s criminal activities recalling Airheads, so I wasn’t therefore expecting to find a poignant riff on coming-of-age party films from the 90s (Can’t Hardly Wait and the like) that digs deeper into the collective psyche of teen angst without ignoring the impact of topics that have recently relinquished the taboo label that kept them unspoken back then (albeit superficially). It’s time the “freaks” took over."
Grade: B-