Screening

About Palo Alto

Rating:

R R

Year Released:

2014

Genres:

Drama

Metadata:

Directed by Gia Coppola

Shy, sensitive April (Emma Roberts) is the class virgin, torn between an illicit flirtation with her soccer coach Mr. B (James Franco) and an unrequited crush on sweet stoner Teddy (Jack Kilmer). Emily (Zoe Levin), meanwhile, offers sexual favors to every boy to cross her path — including both Teddy and his best friend Fred (Nat Wolff), a live wire without filters or boundaries. As one high school party bleeds into the next — and April and Teddy struggle to admit their mutual affection — Fred's escalating recklessness starts to spiral into chaos.

An unflinching portrait of adolescent lust, boredom, and self-destruction, Palo Alto is a teen movie for the ages — an astonishing debut feature from writer-director Gia Coppola, based on the book Palo Alto: Stories by James Franco and featuring new music from Devonté Hynes (Blood Orange). (2K DCP presentation)

"A knockout. Gia Coppola's direction is amazingly free and relaxed, with a loose, lyrical visual style, and a firm sense of what's at stake for her characters that finally becomes genuinely suspenseful." – Gavin Smith, Film Comment