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Suburbia

Suburbia

Drama · Music · Thriller · 1984

When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.

Movie details

Suburbia

“The kids from... The Wild Side... The Side You've Never Seen.”

1984 Drama · Music · Thriller 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.

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 Suburbia?

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.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Penelope Spheeris

Written by

Penelope Spheeris

Chris Pedersen

Chris Pedersen

Jack Diddley

B

Bill Coyne

Evan Johnson

J

Jennifer Clay

Sheila

T

Timothy Eric O'Brien

Skinner

W

Wade Walston

Joe Schmo

Flea

Flea

Razzle

M

Maggie Ehrig

Mattie

Court is in session

Put Suburbia 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.