Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- sardonic
- uncomfortable
- bleak
- arthouse film night
- provocative cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film audacious and structurally inventive but emotionally and mechanically underdeveloped, with its provocative ideas outweighing audience engagement.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film is explicitly divided into two separate stories, one centered on college life and another on high school and celebrity culture.
Its sadly comic treatment of sex, race, exploitation, dysfunctional families, and celebrity produces humor through discomfort rather than reassurance.
The stories repeatedly connect storytelling, celebrity, teaching, and personal relationships with the extraction of value from other people’s lives.
The college and high school settings foreground teacher-student dynamics, status differences, sexual authority, and social control.
Films like Storytelling, and why
Happiness
provocative dark comedy about dysfunctional families, sexual transgression, and social discomfort
Welcome to the Dollhouse
abrasive suburban satire combining bleak humor with dysfunctional relationships and taboo subjects
Ken Park
episodic American independent drama using uncomfortable comedy to examine exploitation and fractured identity
Movie Details
- Director
- Todd Solondz
- Release Date
- 2001-11-21
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (214)
Cast
- Selma Blair
- Leo Fitzpatrick
- Robert Wisdom
- Aleksa Palladino
- Mark Webber
- Paul Giamatti
- John Goodman
- Jonathan Osser
- Lupe Ontiveros
- Julie Hagerty
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Storytelling about?
- Todd Solondz’s sharply divided dark comedy turns college and high school life into an unsettling examination of sex, race, celebrity, and the exploitation embedded in storytelling.
- What is Storytelling like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Storytelling as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Storytelling violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Storytelling as mild.
- What did critics think of Storytelling?
- Critics broadly found the film audacious and structurally inventive but emotionally and mechanically underdeveloped, with its provocative ideas outweighing audience engagement.
- Which films are like Storytelling?
- Films with a similar feel include Happiness, Welcome to the Dollhouse, and Ken Park.
- How long is Storytelling?
- Storytelling runs 87 minutes.
- Where can I watch Storytelling?
- In United States, Storytelling is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
