Little Birds
Two teenage friends trade the desolation of the Salton Sea for Los Angeles, where reckless adventure exposes the brutal cost of wanting to grow up too fast.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- bleak
- melancholic
- fatalistic
- indie film night
- coming of age double feature
What critics said
Critics broadly recognized an assured, visually beautiful debut with strong performances and aching vulnerability, but found its bleakness and nihilistic outlook divisive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Lily and Alison leave their isolated home seeking adventure, but their encounter with older boys turns youthful freedom into damaging experience.
The Salton Sea and Los Angeles are rendered with shimmering beauty despite the characters' escalating vulnerability and fatalistic circumstances.
The central plot follows Lily and Alison as they leave the Salton Sea and follow boys to Los Angeles.
Lily and Alison's shared journey exposes contrasting reactions to the risks and consequences of their rebellion.
Films like Little Birds, and why
Thirteen
shared adolescent alienation, runaway trajectory, and bleak coming-of-age drama
Manny & Lo
shared teenage friendship, rule-breaking, and emotionally abrasive indie realism
The Mudge Boy
shared female adolescence, outsider identity, and sun-bleached American landscape
Fish Tank
shared youthful rebellion, dangerous freedom, and fatalistic road-movie atmosphere
Movie Details
- Director
- Elgin James
- Release Date
- 2011-01-23
- Runtime
- 94 min
- Rating
- 5.7 / 10 (95)
Cast
- Juno Temple
- Kay Panabaker
- Kyle Gallner
- Neal McDonough
- Leslie Mann
- Kate Bosworth
- David Warshofsky
- Chris Coy
- JR Bourne
- Joel McKinnon Miller
Common questions
- What is Little Birds about?
- Two teenage friends trade the desolation of the Salton Sea for Los Angeles, where reckless adventure exposes the brutal cost of wanting to grow up too fast.
- What is Little Birds like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Little Birds as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Little Birds violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Little Birds as mild.
- What did critics think of Little Birds?
- Critics broadly recognized an assured, visually beautiful debut with strong performances and aching vulnerability, but found its bleakness and nihilistic outlook divisive.
- Which films are like Little Birds?
- Films with a similar feel include Thirteen, Manny & Lo, The Mudge Boy, and Fish Tank.
- How long is Little Birds?
- Little Birds runs 94 minutes.
