Palo Alto | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

70% Tomatometer 129 Reviews 49% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings

A lack of parental guidance encourages teens in an affluent California town to rebel with substance abuse and casual sex.

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Palo Alto

Palo Alto

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Critics Consensus

A promising debut for director Gia Coppola, Palo Alto compensates for its drifting plot with solid performances and beautiful cinematography.

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Palo Alto | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online While all the young actors are committed to their characters (though none of them particularly stand out), this film will likely drown in its own nothingness as far more thought-provoking teenage fare continues to prevail. Rated: C Sep 2, 2017 Full Review Palo Alto | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Laurence Phelan Independent (UK) The drama is scaled to just the right size: kids get into trouble or inadvisable situations, but there are no major melodramatics. We see them in their natural habitat. Rated: 4/5 Oct 24, 2014 Full Review Palo Alto | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Mark Kermode Observer (UK) Another week, another glacial outing from the ever-expanding Coppola clan depicting the oh so beautiful emptiness of American teenage wildlife. Rated: 2/5 Oct 19, 2014 Full Review Palo Alto | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Justin Micallef Vague Visages There's a pulsating heartbeat of an autobiographical nature within Palo Alto. Feb 6, 2024 Full Review Palo Alto | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Q.V. Hough Vague Visages I connected a lot more with Gia Coppola’s feature debut than I did with Boyhood. Palo Alto features a group of up-and-comers and captures the essence of youth without forcing it on the viewer. Jun 23, 2023 Full Review Palo Alto | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Robert Sims Lights Camera Austin Based on a collection of interconnected short stories that James Franco published in 2010, director Gia Coppola's high-school drama presents two portraits in teen angst that owe more to the worldview of Bret Easton Ellis than John Hughes. Jan 22, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Isa B Great direction! Gia Coppola is a gifted young director, for sure. Obviously, she comes from good stock. I was impressed by many elements of the film. The acting was great, the story was very realistic, but what impressed me the most was the direction. You got the sense that Gia Coppola knew exactly what she wanted to do throughout the picture. She had a precise vision and she executed it perfectly. It was nothing flashy, she wasn't trying too hard, she just made every frame count and it all helped to tell a very interesting story. There are shades of The Virgin Suicides with Palo Alto in the sense that it's a serious teen film. I immediately got that wonderful feeling that we cinefiles get when watching real cinema. This is quite the debut for Gia Coppola. Palo Alto is a very good film. I do recommend. 90/100 Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/06/24 Full Review Lawss J As a teenager myself I loved this movie. Its such an interesting portrayal of mental health with all the characters, and how they each individually struggle with their own issues and I think its a perfect representation of high school. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/03/24 Full Review Dakota C I personally LOVED this movie! As a teenager myself it was nice to see a movie that was actually similar to real life instead of overdoing everything and making it extreamly unrealistic. Everyone that I know hates this movie but it just has a special place in my heart and I re-watch it atleast 1 every week <3 Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/24/24 Full Review Korbin V WATCH SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD. No likable characters. No likable actions by any characters. Boring. No redeeming social value. You will wish you had done something else. Anything else. You have been warned. Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 11/17/23 Full Review John A The mostly naturalistic performances combined with the compelling coming-of-age and slice of life ingredients make for a relatively absorbing and economic feature. It appears Gia Coppola already has the strides of an auteur director. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/13/23 Full Review Lieze Q It rlly good y'all need a reality check this changed something in me when I was 14 Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Gia Coppola Director James Franco Mr. B Emma Roberts April Nat Wolff Fred Zoe Levin Emily Claudia Levy Shauna
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Synopsis A lack of parental guidance encourages teens in an affluent California town to rebel with substance abuse and casual sex.

Director
Gia Coppola

Producer
Sebastian Pardo, Adriana Rotaru, Miles Levy, Vince Jolivette

Screenwriter
Gia Coppola

Distributor
Tribeca Film

Production Co
American Zoetrope, RabbitBandini Productions

Rating
R (Drug and Alcohol Use|All Involving Teens|Pervasive Language|Strong Sexual Content)

Genre
Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
May 9, 2014, Limited

Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 9, 2014

Box Office (Gross USA)
$750.1K

Runtime
1h 37m
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