Teen Spirit: A Pop-Fueled Journey to Fame

You may recognize Max Minghella for his role as Nick on Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” or from films such as THE SOCIAL NETWORK and THE IDES OF MARCH. Now, you will also know him for his show-stopping musical directorial debut, TEEN SPIRIT, starring Elle Fanning.
“It’s an interesting movie,” Minghella said in an exclusive interview with AMC, “because it’s all about whether a girl is going to win a singing competition or not, and by the time you get to that point in the movie, you don’t care anymore. You’re much more interested in, is Violet going to be the best version of herself? Is she gonna retain the integrity of who she’s been?”
Violet (Fanning) is a shy teenager who dreams of escaping her small town roots and pursuing her passion to sing. With the help of her eccentric singing coach, mentor and manager, Vlad (Zlatko Buric), she enters a local singing competition that will test her integrity, talent and ambition alongside cut-throat competitors.
TEEN SPIRIT is fueled by pop anthems performed by Fanning herself. Minghella, who also wrote the script, carefully chose the songs to support each stage of Violet’s journey. You’ll hear hits written by Robyn, Ellie Goulding, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Tegan and Sara, and many more.
“The songs were all chosen extremely specifically, and every sequence you see in the movie is scripted as such,” Minghella told AMC. “We would have been in a lot of trouble if the record company came back to us and said, ‘You’ve got to change “Dancing on My Own” — you have to change “Lights.”’ I mean, we would have had to fundamentally rewrite the script. It was all so specific and tethered.”
Thankfully, Interscope Records stepped in to produce TEEN SPIRIT, along with Fred Berger of LA LA LAND fame and actor Jamie Bell, who has been featured in films including FANTASTIC FOUR and the upcoming ROCKETMAN.
Don’t miss this stylish, musical spin on the Cinderella story. Get your tickets to TEEN SPIRIT at AMC today.