Trailer

Smooth Talk

Runtime
1hr 32mins
Directed by
Joyce Chopra
Featuring
Laura Dern, Treat Williams, Mary Kay Place
Body

Through our Virtual Screening Room, you can rent films curated by the Coolidge team, while helping to support the Coolidge during this unprecedented time.

Suspended between carefree youth and the harsh realities of the adult world, a teenage girl experiences an unsettling awakening in this haunting vision of innocence lost. Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ celebrated short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and produced for PBS’s American Playhouse, the narrative debut from director Joyce Chopra features a revelatory breakout performance from Laura Dern as Connie, the fifteen-year-old black sheep of her family whose summertime idyll of beach trips, mall hangouts, and innocent flirtations is shattered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger (a memorably menacing Treat Williams).

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Smooth Talk captures the thrill and terror of adolescent sexual exploration as it transforms the ingredients of a standard coming of age portrait into something altogether more troubling and profound.

watch now

Plus, director Joyce Chopra joined us for a livestreamed Q&A moderated by Coolidge Director of Marketing & Development Beth Gilligan. Watch here or at the embedded video below:

Having technical issues? Visit our FAQ page here.

Reviews
Review Text

An uncannily assured look at teenage anxieties. Throughout, Joyce Chopra patiently and shrewdly observes the contradictions of human behavior that Laura Dern brilliantly conveys.

Review Author
Jake Cole
Review Publication
Slant Magazine
Review Text

Magical! Equal parts teen movie, mother-daughter drama, and psychological horror ... No less miraculous is Smooth Talk’s ability to feel brand new, despite having been filmed more than thirty years ago.

Review Author
Anne Cohen
Review Publication
Refinery29
Review Text

Deserves classic status ... the new 4K restoration getting a run in American virtual cinemas this weekend does a great service by boosting the profile of a major work from an artist who never got her due.

Review Author
Charles Bramesco
Review Publication
Little White Lies

This Week

  • The new centuries-spanning sci-fi romance from filmmaker Bertrand Bonello, starring Léa Seydoux and George MacKay. 

    Showtimes
  • Denis Villeneuve's sequel to his Oscar winning adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal bestseller.

    Showtimes
  • The new film from Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro) starring Josh O'Connor (God's Own Country).

    Showtimes
  • A special tribute documentary honoring Gene Wilder's life and career.

    Showtimes
  • A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy.

    Showtimes
  • The new film from writer and director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation), starring Kirsten Dunst.

    Showtimes
  • From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story.

    Showtimes
  • The most cherished film by Charlie Chaplin and ultimate Little Tramp chronicle. 

    Showtimes
  • Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, from director Wim Wenders. 

    Showtimes
  • A year in the life of a singular family.

    Showtimes
  • Survival Rule #1: Cardio.

    Showtimes
  • Andrew Scott brings multiple characters to life in Simon Stephens’ radical new version of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.

    Showtimes
  • little darlings

    A screening in celebration of Cinématographe's newly restored Blu-ray release!

    Showtimes
  • She's The Man

    Featuring an introduction by BAGLY Outreach and Engagement Coordinator Viola Dean.

    Showtimes
  • A man will face his destiny. A hero will be revealed.

    Showtimes
  • The Adventure Continues... with an Academy Award nominated score by John Williams.

     

    Showtimes
  • David Bowie & Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also composed this film’s hypnotic score) star in this captivating, skewed World War II drama.

    Showtimes
  • A comedy about love in the '90s.

    Showtimes