Teen Spirit *** (2018, Elle Fanning, Zlatko Buric, Agnieszka Grochowska, Archie Madekwe) – Movie Review

Debut director Max Minghella’s stylish 2018 British drama Teen Spirit is a modern fairy tale with a vibrant pop soundtrack telling the story of the quiet 17-year-old Violet, played by Elle Fanning (The Beguiled, Maleficent), who lives with her poor Polish-immigrant single mother in a small village on the Isle of Wight.

Violet helps out around the house, sings in the choir and works shifts as a waitress after school, giving her mum (Agnieszka Grochowska) her tips. But she also regularly sneaks off to perform to dead-beats at a dingy pub, where she catches the attention of old Vlad (Zlatko Buric), a down-on-his-luck, boozy former opera star.

When a national singing competition holds auditions in town, Vlad becomes Violet’s unlikely mentor and manager, with the reluctant, suspicious-minded approval of mum, and masterminds her journey to the glitzy Teen Spirit competition finals in London.

Minghella’s Flashdance-style screenplay has more than its fair share of clichés – how could it not? – but it is winning. As director he puts in everything to make the show showy. But it is Fanning who makes it truly a hit, with her intense, smouldering, credible performance, and her ballsy singing. She has a great support act in Zlatko Buric, who is tremendous, and they are a fantastic odd couple double act. Buric’s quirkily charismatic performance moves effortlessly from being a potential rapist and serial killer to kindly, cuddly, misunderstood old geezer. The film is noticeably less good when he isn’t in it.

Of course, with Violet’s actual father out of the picture, Vlad becomes Violet’s surrogate father figure. Her mum is fine, but she has her limitations. She needs a dad. And Vlad makes a fine dad.

At the Teen Spirit competition finals in London, Rebecca Hall makes a belated appearance as an unlikely pushy pop promoter called Jules, who looks like she is going to push Violet around in her determination to sign her up, knowing a good thing when she sees one. She seems like a close relative of the Kate McKinnon character Debra Hammer in Yesterday, an empty-headed exploiter. But Jules also eventually turns out to be an okay person. Jules’s character further confirms Minghella’s upbeat view of people and the world. His characters are basically all nice, and he puts his heart on his sleeve and shows he is going for a feel-good, rather than over-realistic movie.

The film is likeable and short at 93 minutes, and Fanning and Buric bring grit. What’s not to like?

It is rated PG-13 for suggestive content, and for teen drinking and smoking.

It premiered on 7 September 2018 at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival

Teen Spirit is released in UK cinemas on 26 July 2019, on digital download from 16 September 2019 and on DVD from 14 October.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Movie Review

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