Palo Alto

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Palo Alto

R

2014

1h 37m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

70%

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129 Reviews

49%

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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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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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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

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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

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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

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Justin Micallef

Vague Visages

There's a pulsating heartbeat of an autobiographical nature within Palo Alto.

Feb 6, 2024

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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

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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

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Ege Sarp D

The main plot is modern teenagers discovering who they are, and learning about the reality of the world but the plot is not being consistent, which is making it hard to being understandable. Overall, it is not a bad movie but confusing you.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/19/25

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Gareth v

A visually stylish and occasionally haunting portrait of teen ennui, but too meandering to fully resonate.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/19/25

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Stephen C

Success in 1 hour and 37 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $750,100.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/12/25

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Audience Member

This movie was pretty terrible. Literlly nothing happened, there was 0 plot and the "plot" that was there never got resolved. We never even got a final resolution for the movie.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/14/25

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Audience Member

James Franco is a creep. Period.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/08/25

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Audience Member

Good acting, but a movie full of morally corrupt, unlikeable characters— every single one with no conclusion to any of the story arcs. Really depressing too.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/05/25

Full Review

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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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