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85 minute; 1 f, 3 m (flexible, up to 9)
A history of America in the 1980s, an idiosyncratic genealogy of punk rock music, and a personal narrative of growing up as an outsider, punkplay is a mix tape tribute to the excesses and energy of adolescence. Mickey, a thirteen-year-old suburban misfit, is befriended by an angry runaway named Duck. Together, the boys attempt to reinvent themselves using punk rock, but as reality threatens to crash in on them, their fabricated world of amped-up music and shocking band names becomes just as oppressive as the society they're desperate to reject.
“In scenes as rat-a-tat as a Ramones track, the [characters] battle over band names, experience their first porn and hero-worship their local idol... Did we mention this all takes place on roller skates?... Moss finally provides Mickey with an explicit lesson we can only wish we’d been gifted with.”
“In staccato scenes inspired by punk anthems, Moss captures the clammy intensity of adolescent bonding: arousal by contraband porn; battles over band names; preening in search of authenticity... [It’s] political satire meets Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
“Fun, insightful, and jagged around the edges...like that ratty Sex Pistols shirt my friend wore out in high school, I’m guessing the rips were put there on purpose... Moss’s script is full of brilliant dialogue... Bullies, the mysteries of sex, and the tricky negotiations of teen friendship are all paraded out in weird, unexpected, and funny ways.”
“Every scene shakes with the fervid, erratic energy of thwarted youth, perfectly captured... ”
“a complete stroke of genius”