I’m a big Sofia Coppola fan, and her latest is an (okay, fine: another) exploration of the Bermuda Triangle that is youth, fame, and materialism. It chronicles the short-lived but incredibly prolific reign of a group of teens who used Google and the collective lack of a prefrontal cortex to stake out and pillage the homes of their favorite celebrities. In the process, they became their idols—wearing their clothes, hanging out in the same clubs, heedlessly seeking their next great sensory experience–and manage to shed light on our avaricious, sensationalistic culture.
As with Coppola’s other movies, the casting is perfection. Two unknowns (Israel Broussard and Chicagoland’s Katie Chang) confidently carry the movie with graceful, subtle performances. The supporting actors are also very strong, with Emma Watson killing it as Nicki, a vapid terror with a serious case of vocal fry, and Leslie Mann stealing every scene she’s in as her misguided mother who worships on the alter of Angelina Jolie.
The movie is available at Acorn. It was based on a Vanity Fair article (naturally), which was expanded into a book, which can be requested from SWAN.