A once-in-a-lifetime cinematic lightning bolt, River’s Edge packs enough raw power and high voltage attitude for a dozen teen movies. Charged with electric performances, haunting atmosphere, pitch black humor and a raging thrash soundtrack, it’s the perfect representation of a post-punk generation of disaffected youth. Winner of Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature and Best Screenplay, the film follows a group of alienated high school burnouts and their reactions to discovering a friend has killed his girlfriend. But that’s just the starting point for a truly off-center character study populated by a completely over-the-edge Crispin Glover and a blowup-doll-loving, drug-damaged dealer unforgettably played by Dennis Hopper. Plus, see Keanu Reeves, Ione Sky, Daniel Roebuck, and Joshua John Miller in one of the best and boldest films of the decade.
35mm print courtesy of The Sundance Institute Collection at The UCLA Film & Television Archive
