Hot Docs

WINNER - Best International Feature, Hot Docs 2011

California’s suburbs, decimated by economic collapse, are a sprawl of abandoned foreclosures and deserted swimming pools. Skreech, a 23-year-old skate punk, takes full advantage of the decline, stretching out his adolescence by riding empty pools, getting wasted, camping in friends’ backyards and chilling with his girl. If Holden Caulfield had grown up broke in 21st-century Fullerton, no doubt his life would have mirrored Skreech’s. A countdown orders the chaos of our hero’s Peter Pan lifestyle, ticking down the time he has left to get high—5—drink—4—puke—3—and road trip before real-world responsibilities encroach on his idyll. Despite getting his kicks at no one else’s expense—2—society demands he be productive—1—and employed. Dragonslayer is an amazing and unconventional nostalgia trip that questions what “going nowhere” looks like, how capitalism determines our way of life and why inertia is such a powerful threat. - Angie Driscoll

Media Coverage

• BlogTO review (recommended)