‘They call it suburbia,’ muses teenage runaway Evan as he flips through his mother’s stolen diary. ‘It’s a combination of the words “suburb” and “Utopia.”‘
Yet, the Suburbia in which most of the action in Penelope Spheeris’s film takes place is shown to have failed, scattered with half-finished or abandoned homes inhabited by squatters and stray dogs, amongst them the ‘T.R. kids,’ an adoptive family governed by erratic punk Skinner (Timothy O’Brien,) who defines his group as ‘The Rejected.’
Inspired by her immersion in the punk rock scene of Los Angeles in the 1980s, Spheeris’s drama moves between the slums and warehouse concerts and house parties featuring performances by D.I. and the Vandals. Both challenging and touching, Suburbia doesn’t defend the actions of its characters, and may see viewers’ opinions of them shift dramatically over the course of 90 minutes.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea features as Razzle, an animal-loving T.R. housemate, amongst the cast of young misfits.
Suburbia (1983)
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