A Cinderella story with a modern day music twist would be the perfect way to describe the masterpiece that is “Teen Spirit”. Teen Spirit stars Elle Fanning as our shy but talented Violet Valenski whom life begins to change before her very eyes as she enters a profound singing competition, think of American Idol but back when they actually made huge stars.
The film starts off with a song from Grimes titled Genesis and it sets the tone for the film. It offsets this tone of innocence but still longing for more as we see our title character doing her daily duties as she listens to the song. We're then introduced to her singing a rendition of “I Was A Fool” and that was the very moment I knew this movie was one for the books.
I must admit, when watching the trailer, I felt as though I would have to be convinced that the title character could portray that star potential. Boy was I convinced early on as Violet sung her heart out convincing me to root for this character hoping she would get the shot she deserves.
As the film goes on were introduced to characters that bring so much more to the story, such as a potential love interest whom may not deserve to be a love interest. As well as the full of story Vlad played by Zlatco Buric, whom when first introduced, your not quite aware of the huge role he will eventually play in the film.
What I loved most about this film was the growth for our title character, being able to witness the rise of a star and the trials they have to go through to get what they really want is what made this film peak for me. Along with that came the intensely unique camera work that went along with those messages that just pushed the film to bigger heights, while incorporating the best music sequences I have seen in a movie to date.
It was just a whole delight from our rendition of Lights to the dance sequence to “Just A Girl” every moment brought a different vibe to the film that culminated into this unique piece of art that is “Teen Spirit”. Definitely one of my top 3 movies of 2019 and its not number 2 or 3. The music alone is enough to check this out from the exhilarating performance of “Don't Kill my Vibe” to even the background music that just add so much more to the scene.
Throughout the course of the film, we are introduced to so many different layers to the character you can't help but fall in love with the story rooting for all the characters involved. While they also address issues like abandonment in a true authentic way, this film must not be ignored but don't take my word for it, go check it out and let me know if you caught the Teen Spirit like I did!
Echo Grade: A+
