A24 Film No. 5: The Spectacular Now (2013)

Before I start getting into the film itself, I need to say that I’m actually surprised that, of the first five A24 movies, four tell stories about teenagers/young adults/“youth.” While very different from each other (I want to explore this further in an essay I’m already thinking about), it is interesting to see the studio’s interest in approaching this specific moment in people’s lives. Was A24 aiming to attract a specific audience (not necessarily teenagers, but twenty-something young adults)? Or was it just an accident? I’ll put a pin in that for future essays on A24's different eras.

The Spectacular Now is a film adaptation of a young adult novel that tells a coming-of-age story centered on romance, relationships, finding yourself and your place in the world after high school, and dealing with broken families. Our main character is Sutter (a very young Miles Teller), an alcoholic eighteen-year-old who has just been dumped by his girlfriend (who is, of course, a very cool Brie Larson) while navigating his last year of high school and thinking (or not thinking much) about his future. He meets Aimee (another very young Shailene Woodley. This movie really has an all-star cast!), who becomes a figure that makes him reflect on his past and present traumas, the way he relates to others, and how he walks through life.

I do appreciate that the film covers so many different aspects of teenagehood that other movies often portray superficially (high school problems, first relationships and breakups, alcoholism, depression) and usually with a vibe of excess and rebellion. Here, it feels very, very real. You recognize, at some point in your life, someone like any of the characters in this movie. That is what prevents it from falling into the stereotypes of young adult films and instead proposes something interesting. It is not perfect (at times, the pacing feels a little off), but overall, the movie works beautifully as a cohesive whole.

I think the title of the movie (and the book) is incredibly on point and reflects precisely the perspective of youth it seeks to portray. The Spectacular NOW (the opening title emphasizes the “now”) signals that what matters is not the future (or the fear of its absence, like in Ginger and Rosa), but the present. Sutter constantly refers to living in the moment, insisting that the future does not matter and that he wants to enjoy what he has now. There is a scene in which he talks to one of his teachers, who asks him about his graduation plans. Sutter responds that he doesn’t even know if he wants to graduate. Why would anyone want to leave this moment in life, when everything seems possible, to enter the world of adults, portrayed through conflicted and often sad paternal figures and other authorities? While in Spring Breakers the characters sought freedom and the feeling of living forever through parties, here Sutter embraces it as his life motto. This attitude is contrasted with Aimee, who already has plans for college, and his ex-girlfriend, who argues that one reason she broke up with him is that she wants a future, and she cannot have that with someone who lives entirely in the present (I think I like the idea of analyzing teenage years as a state of living in the present tense).

Of course, Sutter’s “present-tensedness” is not unfounded. His family life is troubled: a broken relationship with his alcoholic father who abandoned him, a mother who is rarely present because she has to work extra shifts, and a sister who has moved on with her life (though still leaving the door open for connection). Observing the breakups and divorces around him, and the general unhappiness of adults, Sutter may feel there is not much to aspire to. Aimee, again, serves as the counterpoint: she has her own dreams and even envisions what a successful marriage could look like, despite her own family dramas. In a way, both are damaged characters, but they approach youth differently: Sutter embraces the present, Aimee hopes for a better future. 

The overall storyline is simple, and the aesthetics are very “comfy-movie”-like, which fits the coming-of-age romance vibe. I think it could leave a lasting impression on a teenager, but as a thirty-something watching it, I experienced it with tender eyes, noting how cute they look and how naive and clueless one is at that age. Considering the films A24 released after this one, it’s hard to imagine that it belongs in the same early lineup—but it works perfectly in this tetrad of youth-focused movies.