Suburbia

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Suburbia

R,

1996,

1h 58m,

Comedy

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Watchlist

70%

27 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Five teen friends (Giovanni Ribisi, Amie Carey, Steve Zahn, Nicky Katt, Dina Spybey) spend their time hanging out behind a convenience store in a sleepy Texas town. Through pointless discussions, the group descends into a self-perpetuating cycle of malaise. Their routine, however, brakes when Pony (Jayce Bartok) returns to town after finding success as a rock star, forcing the group to question their desire to stay in the suburbs doing nothing with their lives.

Critics Consensus

Suburbia succeeds in its blistering, ensemble-driven exploration of middle America, though it never quite reconciles the disparate stylings of director Richard Linklater and writer Eric Bogosian.

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Richard Williams

Guardian

Sep 22, 2025

There is affection in Linklater's eye, but no comfort in his conclusion. SubUrbia can only advance his reputation as the Eric Rohmer of the strip-malls.

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Quentin Curtis

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Sep 22, 2025

The movie is clearly in the hoary tradition of The Group. But Bogosian's perfect ear for the characters' gripes and gags, and Linklater's feel for rhythm make it close to a Big Chill for the slacker generation.

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Ryan Gilbey

Independent (UK)

Sep 22, 2025

As Linklater demonstrated on Slacker and Dazed and Confused, his forte is the fluid direction of ensemble casts, and he moves among the eight main characters with a seductive ease and compassion worthy of Rohmer.

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Rachel Wagner

Rachel's Reviews (YouTube)

Aug 2, 2026

An underrated film from Richard Linklater.

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Matthew Sweet

Independent on Sunday

Sep 22, 2025

[Richard Linklater's] cinema has always been -- programmatically -- an endurance test, but this new entry really tries the patience.

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Sep 1, 2022

B

The tension underneath the movie is the friction between Bogosian’s tense urban sensibility and Linklater’s relaxed, generous style.

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Abraham S

Aug 23, 2018

There are moments in the Bogosian script that seem at home in a Linklater film, but mostly their approaches are at odds with each other. It's far too bleak and pessimistic for Linklater.

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Finn W

Apr 3, 2018

Ce qui démarre comme l'habituel film de Richard Linklater se transforme très vite en une comédie noire, qui ne recule devant peu de choses pour traiter d'une jeunesse de banlieue perdue et en colère. SurUrbia est le genre de film qui monte crescendo et qui ne fait sens que dans ses dernières minutes, cruellement hilarantes et salvatrices. Les acteurs sont formidables (Amie Carey & Nicky Katt sont particulièrement bons) et chacun rend parfaitement hommage au texte d'Eric Bogosian, qui ne manque pas de bons mots et de phrases cinglantes. En n'incriminant personne en particulier mais juste en observant le système en place, Linklater laisse le spectateur trouver ses propres réponses. C'est ce qui rend SubUrbia aussi réussi dans sa filmographie pléthorique.

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Hagrid S

Sep 17, 2017

Uneven, too long, and above all frustrating to watch. While it is well-directed, smartly written, and solidly acted, I never found myself engaged in the story of "SubUrbia". Linklater has explored themes of young adults' discontent with their lives in films like "Slacker" and "Dazed and Confused" and he is very good at it, but one of the things why those themes work in these films is because of the characters. Watching "Slacker" and "Dazed", you can tell that he cares about the people he is depicting and that he likes these people. The characters in this film, however, are just so annoying and I have no affection for these people. Although some of the dialogue is very interesting and the performances are very natural, I find it difficult to connect with any of them. This might just be my least favorite Linklater film.

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Rey R

Jun 22, 2017

Another awesome entry from Linklater. Basically just a night in the lives of aimless suburbanites as they sit around, drinking in front of a convenience store, bitching about existentialism. The comedy is quite a bit darker than in things like Dazed and Confused though.

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Richard Linklater

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Jayce Bartok

Pony

Amie Carey

Sooze

Nicky Katt

Tim

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Synopsis

Five teen friends (Giovanni Ribisi, Amie Carey, Steve Zahn, Nicky Katt, Dina Spybey) spend their time hanging out behind a convenience store in a sleepy Texas town. Through pointless discussions, the group descends into a self-perpetuating cycle of malaise. Their routine, however, brakes when Pony (Jayce Bartok) returns to town after finding success as a rock star, forcing the group to question their desire to stay in the suburbs doing nothing with their lives.

Director: Richard Linklater
Producer: Anne Walker-McBay
Screenwriter: Eric Bogosian
Distributor: Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Detour Filmproduction, Castle Rock Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 11, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $656.2K
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround

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