Best 2010s Coming-of-Age Movie Soundtracks: "New Theory" by Washed Out in The Spectacular Now
The Spectacular Now Soundtrack Perfectly Captures
a Teenage Memory in the Making.
Does The Spectacular Now count as a coming-of-age movie? Budding alcoholism. Struggles with identity. A sweet-ass 2010s indie playlist. Yes, yes, yes, it checks all the boxes.
If A guy walks into an office Summer BBQ and slips Ecstasy into his co-workers’ potato salad, that’s the type of absurd story I like to create to the perfect song of my choosing. But I also carry a deep love for movie scenes saturated with atmosphere where the creators absolutely nailed the moment.
The right song in a scene can imprint a vibe onto the whole movie and evoke your own love nostalgia, the moments you hold in deep pockets, the memories attached to a sound. That’s what I’m focused on here with the Friday Cinematic Atmospheres.
The standard is this:
The song set to a scene evokes a sweet little cocktail blend of emotion. It could make you feel good, or make you want to go curl in the fetal position in the dog bed, but it’s successful if it makes you feel.
The first privileged cinematic atmosphere is from the coming-of-age movie “The Spectacular Now”, and is the creek shore party scene set to “New Theory” by Washed Out.
First off, it’s an absolute felony that this movie isn’t openly revered as one of the best coming-of-age movies of the 2010s. Or ever. Second off, look at the cast: Miles Teller, Brie Larson, Bob Odenkirk, Shailene Woodley, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. That’s the type of cast you chop out on the bathroom counter and snort with your dad’s credit card.
Because this movie is criminally underseen, there’s only about four quality clips on Youtube, and one of them happens to be our cinematic atmosphere. Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) plays an 18-year-old blossoming artisan in the craft of alcoholism, while Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley) is the down-to-earth virgin Manga fan with a paper route.
The ethereal dreamscape plays in the background for about the first 45 seconds of the clip, but if you immediately sprint to the nearest Netflix account and press play, you’ll see that the entirety of “New Theory” by Washed Out sets the tone from their arrival: Sutter and Aimee are just hanging out for the first time and making that gross heart-tattooed memory of a young love. They don’t yet know that it means something and there are no expectations. It’s a necessary moment for a “blossoming love” movie scene formula, the bonding moment, but it’s one of the more sincere bonding moments in all of film, and the soundtrack gets it to that place.
I challenge you to find a song/scene combo that better portrays 2010s youthful suburban nostalgia. Anyone who didn’t drop out in eighth grade can relate to this. day-drinking and swimming at the creek turns into a meaningful conversation and a buzzed kiss in the woods. I will enter the metaphorical movie MMA Octagon with anybody to verbally kickbox and grapple you into submission to say that this is the best coming-of-age movie about high school created in the last 37 years.
It’s dreamy. It’s a memory in progress. Teller and Woodley strolling to Washed Out is a gorgeous visual representation of what it looks like to have a soundtrack to your life.
Why You Should Quit Your Job, Go Home and
Immediately Watch The Spectacular Now:
* Multiple great actors/actresses give emotionally grounded performances during their rise to superstardom.
* The themes are true to youth (growing alcoholism, changing relationship dynamics, processing family trauma, recklessness). There’s a whole pile of 2010s teen movies that are executed in a pretentious way or where they’re trying to be so cute that it makes you want to squirt lemon juice in your eyes and rub it in with a toothbrush. (See: The Perks of Being a Wallflower). I already regret writing that — I enjoyed the shit out of Perks of Being a Wallflower. Too late, I stand by it.
* And of course, the soundtrack.
Movies with Miles Teller to get you bothered:
Whiplash
War Dogs
Only the Brave (if you don’t cry, you’re a soulless junkyard robot)
Movies with Shailene Woodley to get you bothered:
I’ll be honest – I have some work to do with Shailene Woodley films. She’s awesome, but I haven’t even seen the Divergent films.
Shailene Woodley Insta
Movies with Brie Larson to get you bothered:
Brie Larson Insta
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