Back to trending
Ghost World

Ghost World

Comedy · Drama · 2001

Two quirky, cynical, teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives following high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle-aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.

Movie details

Ghost World

“Accentuate the negative.”

2001 Comedy · Drama 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

Two quirky, cynical, teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives following high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle-aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Ghost World?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Comedy · 1996

An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.

I Like Movies

I Like Movies

Comedy · 2023

Socially inept 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence Kweller gets a job at a video store, where he forms a complicated friendship with his older female manager.

Frances Ha

Frances Ha

Comedy · 2013

An aspiring dancer moves to New York City and becomes caught up in a whirlwind of flighty fair-weather friends, diminishing fortunes and career setbacks.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Drama · 2015

Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.

White Men Can't Jump

White Men Can't Jump

Comedy · 1992

Two street basketball hustlers try to con each other, then team up for a bigger score.

Work It

Work It

Comedy · 2020

A brilliant but clumsy high school senior vows to get into her late father's alma mater by transforming herself and a misfit squad into dance champions.

Lady Bird

Lady Bird

Drama · 2017

Lady Bird McPherson, a strong willed, deeply opinionated, artistic 17 year old comes of age in Sacramento. Her relationship with her mother and her upbringing are questioned and tested as she plans to head off to college.

Paper Man

Paper Man

Comedy · 2009

A coming-of-middle-age comedy that chronicles the unlikely friendship between failed author Richard Dunne and a Long Island teen who teaches him a thing or two about growing up, all under the disapproving eye of his long-suffering wife and his imaginary Superhero friend.

Mean Girls

Mean Girls

Drama · 2004

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Comedy · 1986

After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Terry Zwigoff

Written by

Daniel Clowes · Terry Zwigoff

Thora Birch

Thora Birch

Enid

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Rebecca

Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi

Seymour

Brad Renfro

Brad Renfro

Josh

Illeana Douglas

Illeana Douglas

Roberta Allsworth

Bob Balaban

Bob Balaban

Enid's Dad

Stacey Travis

Stacey Travis

Dana

Court is in session

Put Ghost World on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.