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3.6
6,411 Ratings

Paranoid Park

Trailer
Directed by Gus Van Sant
United States, France, 2007
Drama

Synopsis

An unsolved murder at Portland’s infamous Paranoid skateboard park brings detectives to a local high school, propelling a young skater into a moral odyssey where he must not only deal with the pain and disconnect of adolescence, but also the consequences of his own actions.

Synopsis

Paranoid Park is not available at this time. Instead, check out Alejandro González Iñárritu's Amores perros, which is currently showing on MUBI.

Amores perros
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Paranoid Park Directed by Gus Van Sant
Show all (19)

Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

2007 | Winner: 60th Anniversary Prize

Independent Spirit Awards

2008 | Winner: Producers Award

2008 | 2 nominations including: Best Feature

Toronto International Film Festival

2007

International Film Festival Rotterdam

2008

Show all (18)

Cast & Crew

Articles from the Notebook

Video Essay. Anaphora: Gus Van Sant’s “Paranoid Park”

The peripatetic indie filmmaker rediscovers the tools of his early, groundbreaking movies with a sensual, subjective story of youth.
Scout Tafoya

Review: “Let the Right One In” (Alfredson, Sweden)

“Let the right one in” is a delicious phrase referring to the occult rule that a vampire cannot enter someone’s house unbidden.
Daniel Kasman
1

Review: “Paranoid Park” (Van Sant, USA)

Daniel Kasman
4

Critics reviews

Paranoid Park may seem like a sketch, yet it catches in luminous amber a moment when reality bloodily, necessarily pierces the myth of adolescent purity.
August 27, 2009
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Conjuring a submersive audio/visual atmosphere that is neither dreamy nor exactly expressionistic, Paranoid Park nevertheless gets into the headspace of its young high school skater protagonist and treats with supreme respect what might be best described as a blown mind.
March 07, 2008
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It is a modestly scaled triumph without a false or wasted moment.
March 07, 2008
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What are people saying?

  • Jye Sherwell's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    Jye Sherwell

    Gabe Nevins did a fantastic job in this film. I found the dialog extremely natural, convincing and really it all rang true with me. The story is good and Aussie DP Christopher Doyle did a superb job on the visual side. I loved the eclectic music too. Overall this is my favourite film from Van Sant plus one of my favourite films of all time.

    February 02, 2019 11:20

  • TCPopcorn's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    TCPopcorn

    Van Zant's finest film, IMHO - Gabe Nevins is a real find and could become a major star if he chooses to continue acting. Absolutely love this film - winner of five of my Poppy year-end awards last year including Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Juvenile Performance.

    January 24, 2019 15:16

  • Phil Worfel's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    Phil Worfel

    Wonderful! Van Sant at his arty best. Such an understanding of youth and a hell of an ear for dialogue.

    December 04, 2008 08:22

  • Wee Hunk's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    Wee Hunk

    Van Sant is at heart an experimental filmmaker. As a result it can look like he's throwing things out there to see which things work. There was a fair amount of stuff I didn't think worked. The soundtrack, the forehead lighting, the aspect ratio. I could go on. I did want to point out that the scene where they had sex was well done in terms of the ambient noise and the psychological aspects.

    June 16, 2019 03:09

  • msmichel's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    msmichel

    Van Zant's brief experimental phase (Gerry, Elephant, Last Days) seemed to come to an end with this dreamlike arty film concerning a murder tied to a young skater. Shot with precision and beauty by Christopher Doyle and Rain Kathy Li . Van Sant's adaptation of the Blake Nelson novel is short on linear plotting but tells an interesting tale none the less.

    May 17, 2019 08:50

  • dionysus67's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    dionysus67

    Could have been an insightful and melancholic portrait -as it clearly intended to be- of the teenage mind-set and subcultures, yet it lets itself down through unfortunate decisions on narrativity. Both the slow-motion shots, the grainy, as if of documentary footage, sequences plus the musical ironies fail to add to what the paucity of the teenagers aims to reveal. Some fine moments on moral empathy do not suffice.

    May 20, 2019 02:43

  • Michael H. CLAES's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    Michael H. CLAES

    VAN SANT is talented with images, music & storytelling. A unique & awesome STYLE. This film gives a strong & long lasting emotion on innocence, teenagehood, damage done by parents divorce === VAN SANT est fort avec les images, la musique & raconter 1 histoire. Il a un STYLE impressionnant & unique. Ce film donne une émotion forte & durable sur l'innocence, l'adolescence, les dommages causés par le divorce des parents

    February 25, 2019 20:14

  • anarresti's rating of the film Paranoid Park

    anarresti

    Gus Van Sant, Larry Clark and Harmony Corine have made some of the most memorable recent portraits of american teenagers. What they have in common is that they make non-jugdemental narratives that show how complex growing up is, in a society where all sorts of things collide, in a body where all sorts of things are colliding. One of the best of that golden generation of filmmakers. Close to perfection. Very close.

    June 16, 2019 07:03

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