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Virgin Suicides, The
Paramount Classics


7.8

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 35 votes
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FILM:

MUSIC:

Air: Original Motion Picture Score for The Virgin Suicides

MPAA RATING: R for strong thematic elements involving teens

Starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Harnett, Chelsea Swain, and Hannah R. Hall

After the suicide death of their youngest sister, the surviving daughters of the Lisbon family descend into a deep melancholy and eventually become isolated socially and physically by their parents (Woods, Turner) within their small-town Michigan house. Their only contact with the outside world is a group of neighborhood boys who become obsessed with watching and attempting to communicate with the girls.

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Sofia Coppola Jeffrey Eugenides (novel)
DIRECTED BY:	Sofia Coppola
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 19, 2000 Video: December 19, 2000 Theatrical: April 21, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	96 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Ethereal.

100

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

It's hard to remember a film that mixes disparate, delicate ingredients with the subtlety and virtuosity of Sofia Coppola's brilliant The Virgin Suicides.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Possesses a tone that wobbles masterfully between whimsy, dread, affection and horror, building on rich performances and an understated showiness to cast a queer and tingly spell.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Bewitching.

Film.com Elizabeth Weitzman

A lovely, luminous dream.

Film.com Gemma Files

Subtle, strange, off-putting, fascinating.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

(Coppola) connects with the essential purity of Eugenides' story, stripping it down to its bare essentials and cutting straight to everything that's wonderful about it.

Austin Chronicle Sarah Hepola

In an astonishingly assured film debut, Coppola captures the poetry and sweetness of Eugenides' novel without allowing any of the standard rites of passage -- first dates, high-school dances -- to feel trite.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

From start to finish there's a shimmer of discovery about it - our discovery of it, Coppola's discovery of how much she can do.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

It gets under your skin and into your head, and you don't want it to leave.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

(Coppola) has the courage to play it in a minor key.

Chicago Tribune Marc Caro

It's quite funny, though not in a predictably irreverent way, and it moves along briskly - a little too briskly toward the end.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

(Coppola) understands the crisp, oblique horror and wistfulness of Eugenides' narrative, plunking down five enchanting princesses into an environment that is anything but magical.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Coppola looks beyond the seductive metaphysical puzzle and locates the core of Eugenides's allegory in an obsessive, almost forensic act of remembering, both futile and inexplicably essential.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Coppola gives Suicides a haunted quality that is undeniably affecting, a feeling intensified by a wonderfully funny and touching Dunst.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

There's a melancholy sweetness here, a gentle humor that speaks to the angst and awkwardness of girls turning into women, and the awe of boys watching the transformation from afar.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

An artful blend of '70s detail and dreamlike moodiness makes Coppola's first movie an exceptionally promising directorial debut.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Has a great deal of empathy for that excruciating limbo that is female adolescence.

USA Today Mike Clark

In contrast to big-screen bummers we see every week, this movie conveys genuine sorrow.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Coppola infuses her movie with a dreamy poetic tone, and deftly translates the essential metaphors of youth, sexuality and death without sacrificing an earthy humor.

Variety Emanuel Levy

Humor prevails throughout, but it doesn't deflate the disturbing elements of the tale, which miraculously manages to stay droll, heartfelt and poignant to the end.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Successfully venturesome, but you need to know that it's also a real downer.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

A very curious and eclectic piece of work--fresh even when it's awkward.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Glum and preposterous -- an operatically stilted adolescent martyr fantasy -- and yet, as staged by Coppola, it's well worth seeing.

TNT RoughCut Sarah Raskin

One major inappropriate casting decision (Kirsten Dunst, who's made a solid leap to young adulthood in "Dick" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is cast as 14-year-old Lux?) and an underdeveloped motive for the girls' self-demise left me unaffected.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

While not exactly a cop-out, Virgin may leave some viewers who crave traditional closure with the same hollow ache described by the narrator as follows: "What lingered after them was not life but the most trivial list of mundane facts."

TV Guide Ken Fox

The soundtrack (Heart, ELO, Todd Rundgren, and an original score by the French duo Air) is spot-on and the costume design (pukka shells and knee-socks) is hideously accurate.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Except perhaps for Lux, who, like The Virgin Suicides itself, is a hothouse flower perishing for want of sunshine and fresh air.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

While young Coppola is a pro with her camera, she'd be wise to brush up on her storytelling skills.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

A detective story without a solution and a coming-of-ager without discernable characters.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

Sofia Coppola, who's directed the film from her own screenplay, narrowly misses making the story work on the screen.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

R L. gave it a3:
I heard about this movie on and off since it came out, and was aware of "Acclaim" associated with the movie; yet it had a very hollow feeling and was probably supposed to have that vibe. I didn't enjoy it this movie and found it left me feeling empty, only moderate compassion for these girls and their situation, and wanted more. Something was missing.

andrew g gave it a0:
A movie with no story and no real characters is rather pointless, isn't it? It's more of a pet project for Miss Coppola than anything (the special features on the DVD are filled with infuriating self-praise and ego stroking).

Amy gave it a4:
Too slow moving. No obvious main characters to follow, and we didn't really discover anything about anyone, no real character development. The ending was obvious, but didn't tell us anything about their reasons for doing what they did, that's what the film was supposed to be about wasn't it?

A. E. gave it a 10:
Increadibly beautiful film. the rising tension that results from the title events contrast tragically with the sweet light that shines from each sister's face. it was damning and hopeful at the same time. i wept when i realized the gravity of the film's accomplishment. amazing.

Trip gave it a 10:
The movie quickly draws you in and leaves you thinking. the whole feel of the movie is quite haunting, and the actors portrayed this perfectly.

MARY M. gave it a 3:
Certainly not the FEEL GOOD movie of the year it was made! While it relied totally on surrealness and strangeness it made me want to jump out a window or slit my wrists. I don't think anyone prone to depression who is off their meds should ever watch this movie.

Robert gave it a 9:
This is an excellent movie. The acting is great, and the plot is enthralling. I haven't seen many movies that are quite as haunting and tragic as this.

Virgin Suicides, The Paramount Classics

Virgin Suicides, The
Paramount Classics