Despite lacking a strong lead performance and high stakes that would elevate it from its rather overworn Cinderella roots to something extraordinary, ‘Teen Spirit’ is still nevertheless watchable, with its eye-popping visual flair and danceable musical score.
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Elle Fanning stars as Polish teenager Violet Valenski, whose dreams of being a singer seems a distant hope given her impoverished family background. Living on the Isle of Wight with her single mother, Marla (Agnieszka Grochowska), Violet goes to school in the day and works at the bar at night, where she takes the opportunity to sing a song or two during open mic sessions.
One of her renditions is seen by an old and unkempt retired opera singer, Vlad (Zlatko Buric), who recognises that Violet has talent, but she brushes away his post-show attempts to make conversation. Only until she requires a guardian to accompany her for the audition of singing contest Teen Spirit, as she’s not quite 18-years-old, does Violet turn to Vlad for help. In return, he wants to be her manager and a cut of the prize money.
The best parts of the film are when Violet sings. Elle Fanning does sing for real, and it turns out that she can indeed sing. She covers the pop songs of Robyn, Ellie Goulding, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, amongst others. When Violet is on stage performing, Fanning’s performance comes alive. But in Violet’s off-stage life, Fanning does not leave much of an impression, playing the typical sulky teenager from a repressed Christian background. Buric, on the other hand, brings a grizzly vitality and depth, and even a few moments of humour, to Vlad.
Despite lacking a strong lead performance and high stakes that would elevate it from its rather overworn Cinderella roots to something extraordinary, ‘Teen Spirit’ is still nevertheless watchable, with its eye-popping visual flair and danceable soundtrack.
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