Teen Spirit's reviews
Media reviews
Indiewire
The music and locations are specific so that the characters don?t have to be ? viewers can take the movie on its own terms, while also projecting themselves onto it.
The Wrap
Minghella, to his credit, makes it an entertaining ride even when we see where it?s going, and Fanning turns out to be a terrific singer well suited to the alternative-rock playlist she?s given.
The A.V. Club
In a film seemingly aimed more at teens than adults, Minghella effectively updates that familiar star-is-born template for an arthouse-minded Instagram generation.
Rolling Stone
You can kill the vibe of Minghella?s film with nitpicking, but Fanning rides the movie home to glory. She is simply sensational.
Vulture
Violet wants to sing. Does Violet want to be a pop star? This is posed as the the driving question of the film, but nothing about Fanning?s performance suggests a desire for much of anything.
The Playlist
Minghella surely knew that what he had here was a familiar story, but despite his gritty and admirable direction it fails to break the traditional formula.
Roger Ebert
Sadly, the film doesn?t live up to the depth of the music that seems to have inspired its existence.
Variety
Teen Spirit is too tidy, concocted, and safe. It longs to channel the high of great pop, but as a movie it lacks the ecstatic imagination to do what great pop does. It never soars.
The Hollywood Reporter
This making-of-a-star drama is old-fashioned and corny, and not in a good way.