20th Century Women (2016)

The story of a teenage boy, his mother, and two other women who help raise him among the love and freedom of Southern California of 1979.

Director:

Mike Mills

Writer:

Mike Mills

Stars:

Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 70 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Annette Bening	...	Dorothea Fields
Elle Fanning	...	Julie Hamlin
Greta Gerwig	...	Abbie Porter
Billy Crudup	...	William
Lucas Jade Zumann	...	Jamie Fields
Alison Elliott	...	Julie's Mother
Thea Gill	...	Gail Porter
Vitaly Andrew LeBeau	...	Young Jamie Fields (as Vitaly A. Lebeau)
Olivia Hone	...	Julie's Sister
Waleed Zuaiter	...	Charlie
Curran Walters	...	Matt
Darrell Britt-Gibson	...	Julian
Alia Shawkat	...	Trish
Nathalie Love	...	Cindy
Cameron Protzman	...	Teen in Therapy

Storyline

Love, life, and the struggles of a mother bringing up a son in the the late 70's. The ignorance of a free spirit against the needs of a young man trying to find his true character and beliefs. Living in a bohemian household shared with 3 like minded spirited people to help pay the rent, his mother tries to establish bonds that he cannot deal with. She cannot deal with his inability to talk, and enlists the help of other females in his life to share the burden of his upbringing. Slowly life unravels for them all without understanding how. In spite of their perceived struggles, they all go on to live defined lives without any serious consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

feminism | feminist | parenting | mother son relationship | teenage boy | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

14A

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dorothea (Annette Bening) says she would like to be with Humphrey Bogart in her next life. In Annette Bening's next film Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017), she portrays Gloria Grahame, who starred in In a Lonely Place (1950) alongside Bogart.

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Goofs

When Dorothea and William dance to music by the Talking Heads, William places the tonearm's needle on the first track, but the song that plays, "The Big Country", is actually the last track on the album shown, "More Songs About Buildings and Food".

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Quotes

Julie: Don't you need a man to raise a man?
Dorothea: No, I don't think so.

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Connections

Featured in The Graham Norton Show: Andrew Garfield/Annette Bening/Harriet Harman/Asa Butterfield/Elbow (2017)

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Soundtracks

Love in a Void
Written by Siouxsie Sioux (aka Susan Janet Ballion), Steven Severin and Peter Fenton)
Performed by Siouxsie and the Banshees

User Reviews

Very strong film. I don't understand all the negative reviews.

This is a very strong film, unless you only like fast-paced action films; I'm going to go out on a limb and say you'll probably like this movie.

As is the norm with A24... it's a good film.

I don't really have much to complain about. I belied in the world of the film, I believed the characters were real, etc-- the world and logic of the film was well established. There were a few tropes of the genre, but some strong writing and direction makes one look past this without really thinking about it. I actually cared about the story and wanted to see how things played out.

The story is a bit disjointed, but I think that works to the film's benefit due to the type of storytelling it's going for, which overall is very effective.

I'd recommend this film to pretty much everyone that likes good movies.

8 out of 10

Details

Official Sites:

A24 Films Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les femmes du 20e siècle

Filming Locations:

East Beach, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$111,200, 1 January 2017

Gross USA:

$5,664,764

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,214,806

Company Credits

Production Co:

A24, Annapurna Pictures, Modern People

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1