Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- glossy
- harrowing
- 1980s movie night
- serious drama night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film’s drug-addiction portrait and standout performances compelling, but considered the adaptation superficial and unable to sustain its serious themes.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Beverly Hills setting, upscale interiors, nightlife, and stylish 1980s presentation frame severe drug addiction and emotional emptiness.
Julian’s cocaine addiction and debts unfold within an affluent Beverly Hills milieu insulated from ordinary consequences.
Clay comes back from Princeton for Christmas and finds Blair and Julian entangled in addiction, debt, and predatory dealing.
Clay, Blair, and Julian’s former intimacy is reshaped by Blair’s relationship with Julian and Clay’s effort to help him.
Films like Less Than Zero, and why
Bright Lights, Big City
shared 1980s Los Angeles setting, affluent youth culture, romantic entanglements, and decadence
The Basketball Diaries
shared themes of cocaine addiction, self-destruction, moral corrosion, and troubled young adulthood
River's Edge
shared glossy urban atmosphere, drug dependency, criminal exploitation, and bleak coming-of-age drama
The Rules of Attraction
shared wealthy social milieu, alienated young characters, melancholy, and critique of privileged excess
Movie Details
- Director
- Marek Kanievska
- Release Date
- 1987-11-06
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Rating
- 6.4 / 10 (312)
Cast
- Andrew McCarthy
- Jami Gertz
- Robert Downey Jr.
- James Spader
- Tony Bill
- Nicholas Pryor
- Donna Mitchell
- Michael Bowen
- Sarah Buxton
- Lisanne Falk
Common questions
- What is Less Than Zero about?
- During a Christmas return to Beverly Hills, a college freshman confronts his former best friend’s cocaine addiction amid a wealthy youth culture built on denial and excess.
- What is Less Than Zero like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Less Than Zero as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Less Than Zero violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Less Than Zero as mild.
- What did critics think of Less Than Zero?
- Critics broadly found the film’s drug-addiction portrait and standout performances compelling, but considered the adaptation superficial and unable to sustain its serious themes.
- Which films are like Less Than Zero?
- Films with a similar feel include Bright Lights, Big City, The Basketball Diaries, River's Edge, and The Rules of Attraction.
- How long is Less Than Zero?
- Less Than Zero runs 98 minutes.
