X
- 2011
- TV-14
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 2011
- TV-14
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
Summary Four young people navigate the suburban wonderland of metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last weekend of summer.
Directed By: David Robert Mitchell
Written By: David Robert Mitchell
- 2011
- TV-14
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 2011
- TV-14
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
The Myth of the American Sleepover
67
6.4
Where to Watch
Summary Four young people navigate the suburban wonderland of metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last weekend of summer.
Directed By: David Robert Mitchell
Written By: David Robert Mitchell
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
67
73% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
20% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
67
73% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
20% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
7% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
By favoring mood over plot, "Myth" explores what it feels like to transition into youth adulthood and face harsher truths.
It's a film where the feelings and experiences of young people are highly specific in detail, yet fundamentally universal and timeless.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 User Ratings
6.4
53% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
33% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
13% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 User Ratings
6.4
53% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
33% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
13% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
What struck me about this movie is its push for timelessness. I don't remember the kids using cell phones or mentioning facebook (unless I missed it) so in a way it does have the nostalgic tone that most of these day-in-the-life-of-teens mosaic films generally have, even if I think this is supposed to be contemporary. We have seen these interlocking stories about teen awakening before, but what this filmmaker is interested in is stripping it down so much that its strive for authenticity somewhat fails when one storyline feels a bit lacking (the college-age kid being creepy with twins he may have shared a moment with in high school).
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So on one night every person that is in high school is at some form of sleepover, including the twins who left for a college one. It's your basic mellow drama and offers up nothing new at all. It's interesting at point but is destroyed by horrible acting. I spent more time thinking of catchy ways to trash this film then I did interested in it's lame plot. Overall, its basically a super long and horrible episode of Degrassi mixed with a little 90210.
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It has a sense of small-town America that feels special even without great specificity. Some of the music on the soundtrack places it in 2007 or 2008, but, really, the film occurs outside of time, virtually outside of place (it's suburban Detroit), and in a void of cultural chic.
Throughout this American Graffiti-like Circadian shuffle, we can sense these characters coming to grips with human realities that they dare not vocalize.
Mitchell still manages to plant a flag on this well-trodden territory by steering more toward drama than comedy, though he scores points on both fronts. Where he exceeds those films are sensual visuals that recapture summertime adolescence in all its vivacity.
A movie that tries and fails to channel the indelibly dreamy mood of Sofia Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides." Well-intentioned but derivative and only intermittently engaging, the suburban Michigan-set indie hits at least as many false notes as true ones.
The movie is so clueless and time-warped it could be comprised of outtakes from "Father Knows Best."
I can appreciate the mood and the murky perspectives from each of these kids, but the film as a whole seems undercooked to me. It's going for a more authentic feeling than "Dazed & Confused", "The Stoned Age" or "Can't Hardly Wait", and it's not as hard-edged as a "Suburbia", but it feels to me like it could have spent some more time in the concept stages. I like the older character who genially stalks the twins-who-got-away, but that storyline is not clever enough or thought through enough to make an impact. And the relationship between the runner who has transferred in to the new school and is unsure about which cluster of girls to befriend and her boyfriend is a little shallow for my liking. But hey, none of these are damnable offenses. It's just not a movie that I can enthusiastically recommend with a positive rating.
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Production Company
Roman Spring Pictures
Release Date Jul 22, 2011
Duration 1 h 36 m
Rating TV-14
Awards
SXSW Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Deauville Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
