This movie plays more like a documentary at times. It’s about a group of runaways that live together in abandoned tract homes in a suburban town, and live the d.i.y punk rock lifestyle together.

The movie is really easy to follow and doesn’t really include a lot of dialogue. There are fights, there are misunderstandings, but moreover there is just a bunch of punk rock, teenage dropouts that live together.

This film fails to capture a wider audience but since it was made in 1984, the understanding of the time period is a lot better in the minds of those that were living through the era. I was born in 1983, and I didn’t get into punk until 1992, so I missed out on this. When I wanted to be “punk” everyone was already cool with it, and I really didn’t get a lot of flack for it.

Suburbia is a cool movie to see how the punk rock ethos are remembered, and how it was a lot harder to be “different” in the 80’s than it is now a days. There are a lot of musical performances that seem to take more time out of this film than it should, and there are moments where there is suppose to be some real heart felt emotion, but instead is ruined by poor acting. However, I recommend this film, alongside these punk rock, indie rock and/or musical films.

This is a low budget looking, dramatic tale of youth gone awry, dropouts, runaways, and how music, style and compassion can sometimes be enough to unify teens and young adults alike.

Suburbia is not going to fit in a lot of people’s movie collection, but it’s noteworthy in many ways. It’s a film about punk rock, new york city, and the 80’s hardcore scene that few people ever really care about.