Teen Spirit

Max Minghella impressed me as an actor in the series The Handmaid's Tale, so I was quite curious about his directorial debut. Sadly, it was no miracle. I felt like I was watching a TV movie and not a movie intended for movie theaters, and it all seemed so uninvolved and emotionless. On the other hand, the musical numbers were quite good and it was worth watching thanks to them. Elle Fanning surprised me by the fact that she can really sing, and she could even sing for a living if she wanted to. But that’s probably the end of the list of positives. (45%) (16.05.2020)

An indie film seemingly drowned in the grayness of ordinary life that tells a story that has been chewed over a hundred times. And thanks to the decent power of the subtly peeking happy moments, it works for the first time. Thanks to the phenomenal visuals of all the musical performances, the precisely crafted covers, and the editing of the dance scenes, that fairytale etherealness of Elle Fanning finally shines through, including her beautifully veiled voice. Max Minghella takes after his father, and I am immensely happy about that. (31.07.2019)

If Elle Fanning didn’t act as a corpse bride, it might have been better. She can sing; in his debut, the director was able to lend great dynamics to the musical scenes, so I was looking forward to each of them. Even though they were cover versions, which Elle managed to perform with flying colors. Everything around her was unfortunately quite boring and didn’t rise above the average, so I kept my rating as average as well. Too bad. (10.03.2020)