18 to Party

I loved this angsty little period drama.

18 to Party is too stagnant for a story about young people wanting to break free.

[It] needed more scrupulous eyes, but bears the palpable excitement of a new voice. It's worth the watch for indie lovers and coming-of-age aficionados, with just enough moments of true clarity to expect a more mature, balanced appeal in Roda's future.

Not since Rian Johnson's Brick have I seen a movie where the young characters speak in such a stylized, hyper-aware, wise-beyond-their-years manner

Marks first-time writer/director Roda as someone to watch.

His Linklater-esque exploration of near-adolescence runs its course in a single evening, but that doesn't make it any easier to forget.

Roda is interested in the little things that make up the stuff of life at that age.

Drama about '80s teen life is no party; smoking, profanity.

18 to Party feels like an overstretched one-act play, or an undernourished stab at some middle ground between Stand by Me and River's Edge. Either way, it falls short.

More than just another coming of age movie set in the 80s, the movie is filled with charm. It looks at the period with a reverse nostalgia that is refreshing.