Lars the Emo Kid

Lars the Emo Kid is a must see! The director, Joe Grisaffi did a brilliant job in portraying the messages of what teens may go through in tough situations at home, school and not to mention dealing with depression, death, social awkwardness and peer pressure. The characters were believable and very relate-able. The film delivers a serious message while being very entertaining at the same time. This is a great movie for teens to see they are not alone in their troubles and there is hope for a better day. Paxton Gilmore, Nicole Elliot, and Sara Gaston are outstanding actors in the film. This is a must see film for the teen years and above! I highly recommend this very entertaining and heartfelt film. So good I will watch again!

Joe Grisaffi & Paxton Gilmore should be proud of this charming indy flick! Performances by Gilmore, Nicole Elliott, and Jake Byrd, carry the day, as we follow Lars, our main character on a familiar journey, through awkward adolescence. Whether you were a jock, a goth, a stoner, a rocker, or all of the above, we've all been Lars at times, and this coming-of-age film, reminds us that all is not lost, even though it sure feels it, at times. I can't wait to see Grisaffi's next effort, as he really provides a safe place for these teens to show their stuff. Great supporting performances as well from Sara Gaston, as Cindy, and Jake Messinger, as The Coach. Good story-telling doesn't need a massive budget, and Lars the Emo Kid proves it!

Lars the Emo kid is an independent movie which manages to simultaneously entertain and deliver a serious message. Director, Joe Grisaffi, works his synergistic magic here pulling together great writing, genius casting and his own talent to create a cinematic experience that defies it's budget.

The characters are believable without going over the top, but never take themselves too seriously. Lars the Emo Kid is underpinned by gentle wit with occasional laugh out loud moments when it all gets too ridiculous. Go see this movie, and make sure you take a troubled teen with you. Nicole Elliott, Paxton Gilmore and Sara Gaston are the stand-out talent in this feature.

Looks great and some of the acting is actually pretty OK, but where's the effing story? Nothing happens, nothing to engage you, no dramatic questions are raised. And in no Universe could this film ever be described as a comedy. Give this one a wide berth.

A preface I don't think is brought up in any other reviews, this movie seemingly grew out of a video series from the mid 2000s called Lars the Emo. It's only loosely based on it and it's tonally very different. But I think it's important context.

It's important because for a movie made in 2015 this movie just has that quintessential 2000s charm. It's written and shot like a webseries from that period. Big time The Guild vibes, a series I'm also a huge fan of. And for all its references and tropes it might as well be from then. Nickelback, beatboxing, George Bush is president, dumb YouTube video callbacks, even the weird rawr so randumb way some of the emo characters act is exactly how I remember them at school. I'm pretty sure I even saw a Blackberry.

It's a time capsule, meticulous in its intent and competent in execution. You could make a drinking game out of the period references. Funny thing is, when this came out, the 2000s only ended half a decade ago. Now it's nearly a decade and a half, and that nostalgia is starting to kick in big time.

This movie does have some serious subject matter. But I'm not gonna say the off kilter tone of the movie really detracts from it. If anything, it's just remaining loyal to its whole 2000s vibe. This stuff wasn't taken as serious back then. I think the 2000s was the last carefree decade before reality started to kick in.

I remember growing up in the 2000s. Terrorist attacks, the Kyoto Protocol, the looming recession. They felt like blips on the radar. Nobody took them seriously yet. Suicide, mental health stuff, it wasn't a huge deal either. Everyone was in a fugue because the bubble hadn't burst yet. Take the guidance counselor for example. That's where emo sorta came from it seems, because the bubble had burst for them, and it's why it makes sense to have one as a main character in what is a tribute to an entire decade.

All this is wrapped up in an otherwise standard high school coming of age story. On this budget, I'd say they did a damn good job.