The Exploding Girl

Play trailer

The Exploding Girl

Released Mar 12, 2010

1h 20m

Drama

Romance

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

38 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A college student (Zoe Kazan) considers a romance with her longtime best friend (Mark Rendall).

Critics Consensus

Its languid pace and willfully understated narrative may test the patience of some viewers, but Bradley Rust Gray's gentle direction and a gripping performance from Zoe Kazan lend The Exploding Girl an appealing, melancholy beauty.

Read Critics Reviews

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

Restless audiences may itch for more plot, for the kind of fiery dramatics that typify young love in the movies, but hold the explosives: There's tender drama, too, in the possibilities of a hand-hold.

Rated: 4/5

May 14, 2010

Full Review

Ty Burr

Boston Globe

The Exploding Girl is a film about the deceptiveness of surfaces, and it takes place in a small town that you eventually realize with a start is actually New York City.

Rated: 2.5/4

May 6, 2010

Full Review

Dustin Chang

Floating World

This economically done film belongs to Kazan- with a lot of tight close ups, we intimately get to observe Ivy, a rather introverted, unremarkable college girl.

Apr 12, 2021

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

Builds on character emotions and the atmosphere of the city, be it in the sound of a flock of birds at sunset or just the sounds of passing cars, to create something disarmingly beautiful.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 5, 2019

Full Review

Lisa Rosman

IFC.com

In her first starring role, Kazan as Ivy vacillates wonderfully between insecurity and insouciance.

Jul 18, 2017

Full Review

Read all reviews

jaime h

One of the quietest, most brilliant films of its genre and generation. Just a stellar performance from Kazan, nuanced to the hilt... bravo to BRG the director.... just a magical piece of art!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Incredible and beautiful indie from Bradley Rust Gray! A must see. So stoic and bold, a beyond elegantly nuanced performance by Zoe Kazan, and a story well worth its own weight in gold! Definitely this gem whenever you can!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I have never really noticed Zoe Kazan as an actress before and now I've all of a sudden seen five of her movies in a row. Sadly this was the only one I haven't really enjoyed out of the five. The storyline and acting was great, the filmography was great as well, especially in the beginning and end. I just found it very slow and it was quite difficult managing to sit all the way through, despite it being very short.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The two things I remember about this movie: 1) The main character has epilepsy but that's not the point of the story. Both of the stars I gave the film are for the refreshing normalcy with which a "disabled" character is portrayed. 2) It's otherwise a movie about people not answering their cell phones when you want them to, providing a blow-by-blow account of nothing happening.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is reaaally slow. It was decent. Watch at your own risk.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Bradley Rust Gray

Director

Zoe Kazan

Ivy

Mark Rendall

Al

Maryann Urbano

Ivy's Mom

Franklin Pipp

Greg

Hunter Canning

Cary

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Mercy

43%

56%

Mercy

Watchlist

To the Wonder

47%

37%

To the Wonder

Watchlist

Vacationland

0%

26%

Vacationland

Watchlist

Tanner Hall

16%

26%

Tanner Hall

Watchlist

A Beautiful Life

0%

26%

A Beautiful Life

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Critics Consensus: Green Zone Feels Stale

View more photos

Synopsis

A college student (Zoe Kazan) considers a romance with her longtime best friend (Mark Rendall).

Director: Bradley Rust Gray
Producer: Karin Chien, Ben Howe
Screenwriter: Bradley Rust Gray
Distributor: Oscilloscope Pictures
Production Co: Soandbrad, MBS Productions, Parts and Labor
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 12, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.2K
Runtime: 1h 20m

Most Popular at Home Now