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The Belcourt Theatre
Aug 29 - Sep 15, 2025

Teenage Wasteland

Teenage Wasteland

Trudge through the tumultuous trenches of that small, suffocating place between being a kid and an adult. Where like wildflowers – wonder both wakes and wanes in natural wistfulness. Let us take you to that vexing place of forgotten familiarity in which angst broods, lust looms, and rebellion blooms. Spanning nearly 70 years of diverse stories about the most dreamy and dreadful days of our lives – each of these films – selected in a fastidious fever – seeks to satiate that gnawing need for nostalgia in each of us. Welcome to TEENAGE WASTELAND. Please enjoy your stay.

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Past Screenings

LADY BIRD
Tue, Sep 2 at 5:50pm

LADY BIRD

Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is a high school senior who daydreams of trading her lackluster hometown for the likes of a prestigious college on the East Coast. In her debut feature, Greta Gerwig masterfully depicts the volatile nature of the razor thin line between girlhood and womanhood.
THE DREAMERS
Wed, Sep 3 at 5:30pm

THE DREAMERS

A forbidden fantasy blossoms when French twins Isabelle (Eva Green) and Théo (Louis Garrel) invite American exchange student Matthew (Michael Pitt) to stay with them while their parents are abroad for a month.
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
Sat, Aug 30 at 12:30pm | Sun, Aug 31 at 12:00pm, 5:45pm

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

In the most iconic role of his career — American heartthrob James Dean plays the troublemaking teenager Jim Stark — who’s dealt a fresh start when he moves to a new town. But when he befriends his disturbed classmate Plato (Sal Mineo) and falls for Judy (Natalie Wood) — the girlfriend of the neighborhood bully — Stark soon falls back into his old ways.
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
Sat, Aug 30 at 2:50pm, 7:10pm | Mon, Sep 1 at 1:30pm

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

Perhaps the most prominent coming-of-age comedy of the early aughts, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE chronicles the listless life of an awkward boy from Idaho and his egregious grandma, poindexter brother, philanthropic best friend, raucous uncle and salivating pet llama.
DONNIE DARKO
Sat, Aug 30 at 4:45pm, 9:05pm | Mon, Sep 1 at 5:35pm

DONNIE DARKO

In form, DONNIE DARKO is an ‘80s cult-classic teen film — but in execution, it’s a delicate sci-fi narrative grounded in theoretical physics. After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, an emotionally volatile teenager (Jake Gyllenhaal) is plagued by visions of a man in an odious rabbit suit who manipulates him into going on a paranoia-fueled crime spree.
CITY OF GOD
Sun, Sep 7 at 3:10pm

CITY OF GOD

Growing up in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, aspiring artist Rocket uses his passion for photography to observe and avoid a life of drugs and crime. Through Rocket — as well as gang leaders Lil Zé and Knockout Ned — the film tells the story of the rise of organized crime in the ‘70s, and was a breakthrough hit in 2002, churning with energy and punctuated by a propulsive era soundtrack.
A SWEDISH LOVE STORY
Sat, Sep 6 at 3:10pm

A SWEDISH LOVE STORY

From master filmmaker Roy Andersson, a simple yet emotionally honest tale of two young lovers set in relief against the chronically dysfunctional adults in their lives.
DOGTOOTH
Sat, Sep 6 at 5:25pm

DOGTOOTH

Locked in a perpetual prison of adolescence by their domineering father, three socially and sexually repressed siblings make increasingly desperate attempts to escape their barrage of boredom.
SPONTANEOUS
Fri, Sep 5 at Midnight

SPONTANEOUS

When students in their high school begin inexplicably exploding (literally), seniors Mara and Dylan fall for each other as they struggle to make sense of the sudden violent deaths of their classmates and live each moment as if it’s their last.
THE 400 BLOWS
Sat, Sep 6 at 1:00pm | Sun, Sep 7 at 1:00pm, 8:00pm

THE 400 BLOWS

Told through the eyes of director François Truffaut’s cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), this French New Wave classic sensitively re-creates the trials of Truffaut’s own childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers and petty crime.
VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS
Sat, Sep 6 at Midnight

VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS

A girl on the verge of womanhood finds herself in a sensual fantasyland of vampires, witchcraft and other threats in this eerie and mystical movie daydream. Ravishingly shot, enchantingly scored and spilling over with surreal fancies, this enticing phantasmagoria from director Jaromil Jireš is among the most beautiful oddities of the Czechoslovak New Wave.
CHRISTIANE F.
Mon, Sep 8 at 3:20pm, 8:00pm

CHRISTIANE F.

The ’70s at their grungiest are captured by Uli Edel’s 1981 film with Natja Brunckhorst as 14-year-old David Bowie-obsessed junkie crashing in West Berlin’s Zoo Station. Bowie himself appears in a concert performance, and the film’s soundtrack is a virtual compendium of the epochal musician’s celebrated “Berlin period” — and a perfect sonic evocation of nightclubbing’s dark side.
PARIAH
Sat, Sep 13 at 2:50pm

PARIAH

Nashville native Dee Rees directs the story of Alike (Adepero Oduye) — a teenage Black girl from Brooklyn who’s on the brink of self discovery in the department of homosexuality. But the more she embraces her identity, the more she faces scrutiny from her Christian mother.
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
Mon, Sep 15 at 5:45pm

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is sweet, shy, and suffers from psychiatric distress. Determined to not let PTSD ruin his freshman year, he hits the highschool hallways with one goal in mind — to find a friend.
PRETTY POISON
Sat, Sep 13 at 9:15pm | Sun, Sep 14 at 2:40pm

PRETTY POISON

Recently released from a mental institution, a disturbed young man falls for a radiant All-American teen who may not be as innocent as her appearance suggests.
THE BREAKFAST CLUB
Mon, Sep 15 at 8:00pm

THE BREAKFAST CLUB

Forty years later, the magnum opus of teenangst dramedies — THE BREAKFAST CLUB — remains one of the most beloved films about friendship, love, and sticking it to the man.
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