The Virgin Suicides
A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.
What critics thought
Sofia Coppola's debut is widely praised for its dreamlike, elegiac atmosphere — a film that deliberately withholds explanation and lets mystery do the work. Critics broadly admired how it handles adolescence and repression through impressionism rather than drama, though a few found the same quality that enchants others — its refusal to confront its own dark subject head-on — to be a genuine artistic problem rather than a deliberate choice.
“She doesn't hammer home ideas and interpretations. She is content with the air of mystery and loss that hangs in the air like bitter poignancy.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“how can a film in which a quintet of apparently normal girls commit suicide possibly be a celebration, and why would a filmmaker attempt to make it so unless she is uncommonly perverse?”
Graham Fuller·The New York Times
“The narrator speaks of youth as if it existed and still exists in a near-fugue state. In this respect, the film is as much a relevant view of adolescence and male/female relations as it is an act of remembrance.”
Ed Gonzalez·Slant Magazine
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
Sofia CoppolaDirector
Kirsten DunstLux Lisbon
Josh HartnettTrip Fontaine
James WoodsMr. Lisbon
Kathleen TurnerMrs. Lisbon
Michael ParéAdult Trip Fontaine
A.J. CookMary Lisbon
Hanna HallCecilia Lisbon
Leslie HaymanTherese Lisbon
Chelse SwainBonnie Lisbon
Giovanni RibisiNarrator (voice)
Jean-Benoît DunckelComposer
Nicolas GodinComposer
Jeffrey EugenidesWriter
Edward LachmanCinematographyThe Virgin Suicides
A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.
What critics thought
Sofia Coppola's debut is widely praised for its dreamlike, elegiac atmosphere — a film that deliberately withholds explanation and lets mystery do the work. Critics broadly admired how it handles adolescence and repression through impressionism rather than drama, though a few found the same quality that enchants others — its refusal to confront its own dark subject head-on — to be a genuine artistic problem rather than a deliberate choice.
“She doesn't hammer home ideas and interpretations. She is content with the air of mystery and loss that hangs in the air like bitter poignancy.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“how can a film in which a quintet of apparently normal girls commit suicide possibly be a celebration, and why would a filmmaker attempt to make it so unless she is uncommonly perverse?”
Graham Fuller·The New York Times
“The narrator speaks of youth as if it existed and still exists in a near-fugue state. In this respect, the film is as much a relevant view of adolescence and male/female relations as it is an act of remembrance.”
Ed Gonzalez·Slant Magazine
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
Sofia CoppolaDirectorKirsten DunstLux LisbonJosh HartnettTrip FontaineJames WoodsMr. LisbonKathleen TurnerMrs. LisbonMichael ParéAdult Trip FontaineA.J. CookMary LisbonHanna HallCecilia LisbonLeslie HaymanTherese LisbonChelse SwainBonnie LisbonGiovanni RibisiNarrator (voice)Jean-Benoît DunckelComposerNicolas GodinComposerJeffrey EugenidesWriterEdward LachmanCinematography