American Teen
American Teen takes us through the senior year of an American high school smack dab in the middle of a red state bible belt. Focussing on four 18 year olds in Warsaw Indiana this amazing documentary actually plays out like an insightfully written drama. In a word there’s a jock, geek, prom queen and misfit - none of whom is totally likeable although some are more charming than others. The quartet are anything but friends, their personalities are as diametrically opposed as are their socio economic backgrounds so their paths rarely cross and when they do it get uncomfortable. Also seemingly scripted perfectly are the pressurizing parents from the Elvis impersonator to the scheming entrepreneur. The surprisingly candid footage is punctuated by unique animation and talking heads to recapture some very joyous triumphs but mostly the tension, jealousy, break-ups, self loathing and pain which make up the hell that is high school.