User Reviews

Before I watched this, I watched the complementary music video to "The Suburbs" (the first track on the album of the same name). I recommend watching both.

As someone who is questioning society's ideas of what it means to grow up, this story is a touching one. At first glance, to the uninitiated, it could come off like just another teen drama love triangle. That would be a tragic misinterpretation of this fine, authentic piece of art, and it would fall short of Arcade Fire's sensibilities and desire to deal with what's really going on with "America" beneath all the "issues." (At least, that's my interpretation of most of their work so far.) For, as opposed to some Disney story that pits friends against each other for a girlfriend/boyfriend, this isn't about that kind of relationship. In fact, it has nothing to do with the female character--it's about a friendship between two guys. A friendship torn apart by change (not good change) and fear as one of them pulls away from the group as accepts the deeper disease behind what the authorities in his life are telling him, and portraying.

The unique symbolism of how our "communities" have become is a minimally-important background for a youthfully-, authentically-acted short drama between childhood best friends.

I don't want to give the plot away, so I'll just end this by saying I now understand the album lyrics "With my old friends I can remember when / You cut your hair, I never saw you again." The questions it leaves us with are deeply important in this nation of detached souls.

Should we look a certain way to grow up? Should we surrender to the world's system to grow up? *Should* we grow up?

I just finished watching Scenes From the Suburbs on www.mubi.com where it was posted on Monday and I have to say that it was very good. "Scenes From The Suburbs" is about a group of friends who live in a town that appears to be in some sort of local war. However, the film does not explicitly mention why the town is at war and it is focused more on the teenagers as they grow up over the summer. The young actors, particularly the main one whose name I cannot remember, are great and felt authentic. The cinematography was beautiful and I think Spike Jonze did a great job at directing. I liked how the music by Arcade Fire felt natural for the film. However, I can't help but wish it was a little bit less ambiguous and I think I enjoyed the music video for The Suburbs more than Scenes From the Suburbs. Overall, I enjoyed "Scenes From The Suburbs" and I think that if you love Arcade Fire then it is a must. Also, this just makes me eager to see Spike Jonze's next project.

This film reminds me of my childhood growing up in the suburbs, and the music is from one of my favorite albums. I think both of these qualities are required to get anything out of this picture.

The images of the houses rolling by, airplanes overhead, and neighborhood kids playing made-up games under an overpass evoke memories of simpler times. This is the theme of both the album and the film: the loss of purity. It's a nostalgia film.

It is a genuinely different movie. For those of us somewhat jaded by the Hollywood-franchising-machine, this may be the refreshing respite you were looking for.

The deeper subtext of the character's relationships gets lost beneath the fantasy concept. But its short length is its greatest strength. It says what it wants to and rolls the credits. But even then, if you do not care about the album it is based on, it would do you no good to watch this movie.

Ever so rarely are we given the opportunity to experience with our own eyes something possessing true beauty and wonder. Scenes From the Suburbs is exactly that, but also so much more.

For a world craving sentimentalism as our own it's becoming increasingly complicated to experience events that touch us on the most personal level, mostly because films and other art forms are more and more built to be enjoyed by all, leaving behind those experiments that are minimalist in scale but truly grand in feeling. Spike Jonze sees this trend and seeks to provide us with something beautiful, something more than just a film or even an experience. He gives us, together with the ever so fantastic Arcade Fire, a short but powerful moment of indescribable emotions and nuanced conceptions of nostalgia, war, growth, friendship and the world.

but i liked the album more. The actors in the film didn't sound like the singers on the album so it wasn't really the same experience. Plus the actors were much younger than Win, Will, Regine, Richard, Sarah and Jeremy. Tim also. The movie was too long for my taste but my dad thought it was OK. My dad is also younger than Win, Will, Regine, Richard, Saraj and Jeremy. Tim is about the same age. The music in the film was really good because it was made by Win, Will, Regine, Richard, Sarah and Jeremy and Tim. The scene where one of the boys meets the girl is exciting because it reminds me of a personal experience. I thought the ending was confusing but that might me because I didn't watch the beginning. I'm pretty sure Will Smith wasn't in the film. What do you guys think? Private message me if I'm wrong! :D The directing was good. I also enjoyed the music by Win and Will and Regina and Jerry and Sara and Rick and Timothy. (When I say Will I don't mean Will Smith. I'm 92% sure he wasn't in the film.) But

Spike Jonze teamed with Arcade Fire in 2011 to make this short film based on the latter's 2010 concept album, The Suburbs. It's a great one (some would say Arcade Fire's last great album, but I'd disagree - 2013's Reflektor is fantastic and people are mean), but unfortunately, this 30-minute accompaniment isn't so good.

Firstly, I should say it's not terrible. It's right on the cusp of being something good. It gets off to a strong start, it evokes a sense of nostalgia (paired with some unease, for good measure) effectively, and when it uses Arcade Fire's music front and centre, it really works.

Unfortunately, the story it was trying to tell muddies and worsens the story told in the album. This is not like 1982's Pink Floyd - The Wall where the film adaptation clarifies and dramatises an album's more obscure story.

Visually it looks pretty good, but the sound mixing is all out of whack. Music's loud while some dialogue is barely comprehensible. It spells some things out too obviously while being annoyingly obscure about other things, making for a watch that eventually becomes frustrating. Die hard Arcade Fire and/or Spike Jonze fans might get something out of it, but I wasn't really a fan.

(Not a criticism of the film, but I can't help but feel like it's awkward how there's a conversation between characters in this film about consent, after allegations broke in 2022 about misconduct by the band's frontman, Win Butler, who also co-wrote this short film).