With the triumph of musical drama A Star is Born, a resurgence of the genre could be afoot. Teen Spirit, the upcoming indie lead by 20-year-old Elle Fanning looks like it could cater well to fans of the buzzy Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga film. Check out the first trailer:
Teen Spirit follows Elle Fanning's Violet, a timid teen who has aspirations to become a pop star and run away from her small town and tumulus family life. She enters a fierce international singing competition called "Teen Spirit" and receives help from a mentor, played by Pusher's Zlatko Buric, aiming to go far in the competition.
The trailer from Bleeker Street and and LD Entertainment sets up the character's normal life working as a waitress and on a small farm, before seeing a neon pink "Teen Spirit" audition sign on her morning bus commute. From there, Violet auditions and makes it into the contest with a crowd of other young singers and moves through the competition.
The first look at Teen Spirit includes Elle Fanning showing off her vocals as she sings Robyn's 2010 dance-pop hit "Dancing On My Own." The trailer also teases that Fanning will be singing songs from Ellie Goulding, Tegan & Sara, Annie Lennox, Orbital and Sigrid. Teen Spirit will also feature an original song written by Carly Rae Jepsen and Bleachers' Jack Antonoff titled "Wildflowers."
The upcoming musical drama is written and directed by actor Max Minghella, best known for his role as Nick Blaine on The Handmaid's Tale. Teen Spirit marks his directorial debut and has La La Land producer Fred Berger involved as well. The film looks to be an elegant and artsy release that celebrates the alternative pop music of today, and tracks the emotional journey of Elle Fanning's character.
Elle Fanning has been acting on movie sets since she was a three-year-old, finding her breakout role in J.J. Abrams Super 8 in 2011. Since, the actress has primarily starred in independent films and as Princess Aurora in Disney's Maleficent in 2014. She is joined by fellow young actress Millie Brady in Teen Spirit, who will soon be seen in Netflix's The Witcher series sometime in 2019 and Holmes And Watson's Rebecca Hall.
Rebecca Hall and Fanning also recently worked together on Woody Allen's latest film, A Rainy Day in New York, though has yet-to-be-released by Amazon Studios as the director recently made headlines for allegations of sexual misconduct.
When Teen Spirit comes to theaters on April 5, 2019 it will certainly be facing some fierce competition, since Shazam! and Stephen King adaptation Pet Sematary share the same release date. But this under-the-radar film is definitely worth checking out for fans of alternative pop music, Elle Fanning's impressive acting chops, and for fans of some surefire vocal competition show drama.
