Based on James Franco's first book of short stories, Gia Coppola's auspicious directorial debut features a knock-out cast (including Franco, Emma Roberts, and Zoe Levin) and immerses us in the tangled lives of teenagers living in the eponymous Californian city.

Based on the book of short stories by actor, director, art-star and all-round polymath James Franco, Palo Alto is a kaleidoscopic portrait of teenage dissolution in Franco's hometown, derived from events he witnessed or experienced in his own adolescence. Shuttling between a number of characters — including Fred (Nat Wolff), whom we first see driving a car into a wall (on purpose); Teddy (Jack Kilmer, whose father Val makes a memorable cameo appearance), who is first seen driving drunk and being moronically obnoxious with a police officer before revealing a more tender and curious side while logging community-service hours at a local library; and April (Emma Roberts), who begins having an affair with the school football coach (Franco) — first-time feature filmmaker Gia Coppola proves herself more than worthy of her family name with her fluid, mature, stylish yet unfussy direction. Rooted in personal experience yet speaking to the experience of any generation, Palo Alto paints a vivid picture of kids drawn towards vice for its own sake, seeking some combination of cheap thrills and meaningful connection.

http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/nextwave/2014/2330025472