''Shoplifters of the World'' is a 2021 American independent comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephen Kijak. It stars Helena Howard,

Ellar Coltrane Ellar Coltrane Kinney Salmon (born August 27, 1994) is an American actor. They are best known for their role as Mason Evans Jr. in Richard Linklater's film '' Boyhood'', for which they won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer ...

, Elena Kampouris,

Nick Krause Nick Krause (born April 14, 1992) is an American film and television actor. In 2014 Krause won Best Actor for his portrayal of Harlon in the film ''White Rabbit'' at the Boston and Catalina Film Festivals. Other roles include the film ''The Descen ...

, James Bloor,

Thomas Lennon Thomas Patrick Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series ''Reno 911!'' Lennon is an accomplished screenwriter of several major st ...

and

Joe Manganiello Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of ...

. The film was released on March 26, 2021 by

RLJE Films RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

Plot

In Denver, four friends reel from the sudden break up of

the Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

, while the local radio station is held at gunpoint by a fan who forces a disgruntled heavy-metal DJ to play music by the Smiths all night. The plot is loosely based on an actual incident that occurred in 1988 when an 18-year-old attempted to commandeer Denver

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

station Y108.

Cast

* Helena Howard as Cleo *

as Dean * Elena Kampouris as Sheila *

as Billy * James Bloor as Patrick *

as Uncle Shadrack *

as Mickey "Full Metal Mickey" * Olivia Luccardi as Sandi * Imani Lewis as Rita *

Celia Au Celia Au is a Hong Kong American actress and filmmaker based in Manhattan. She has appeared in the television series ''Lodge 49'' (2018–2019) and ''Wu Assassins'' (2019). Filmography Film Television series See also * Chinese people in ...

as Siouxsie Chu * Cameron Moulène as David

Production

In February 2012, it was announced that

Jessica Brown Findlay Jessica Rose Brown Findlay (born 14 September 1987) is an English actress. She played Lady Sybil Crawley in the ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' and Emelia Conan Doyle in the 2011 British comedy-drama feature film '' Albatr ...

James Frecheville James Aitken Frecheville (; born 14 April 1991) is an Australian actor known for his lead role in the Australian film '' Animal Kingdom'' as Joshua "J" Cody, a confused teenager and youngest member of a criminal family in Melbourne's underworld. ...

Jeremy Allen White Jeremy Allen White (born February 17, 1991) is an American actor. He is best known for his long-running role as Phillip "Lip" Gallagher on the Showtime dramedy series '' Shameless'' (2011–2021). He has also appeared in the first season of the ...

Thomas Brodie-Sangster Thomas Brodie-Sangster (born 16 May 1990), also credited as Thomas Sangster, is an English actor. He is known for playing Sam in ''Love Actually'' (2003), Simon in '' Nanny McPhee'' (2005), Ferb in '' Phineas and Ferb'' (2007–2015), Jojen Reed ...

Skylar Astin Skylar Astin Lipstein (born September 23, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He became known for portraying Jesse Swanson in the musical films ''Pitch Perfect'' (2012) and ''Pitch Perfect 2'' (2015). He originated the role of Georg in the Broa ...

and

Zosia Mamet Zosia Russell MametAccording to Vermont Births, 1981–2001, and Vermont Birth Records, 1909–2008, at Ancestry.com. (; born February 2, 1988) is an American actress and musician who has appeared in television series including ''Mad Men'', ' ...

had joined the cast of the film, with Stephen Kijak directing from a screenplay that had written. In March 2014,

joined the cast, and in September 2016, it was announced that

Sasha Lane Sasha Bianca Lane (born September 29, 1995) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''American Honey'' (2016), directed by Andrea Arnold, before portraying Hunter C-20 in the first season of the Disney+ television series ''Loki'', set ...

Isabelle Fuhrman Isabelle Fuhrman (born February 25, 1997) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Esther in the horror film ''Orphan'' (2009) and its prequel '' Orphan: First Kill'' (2022). She also portrayed Clove in the dystopian adventure film ' ...

and

had also joined, with Findlay, Frecheville, White, Sangster, Astin and Mamet no longer attached. In February 2019, it was announced that Helena Howard, Elena Kampouris and

had joined the cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in October 2018 in the region of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, mostly in the towns of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

and Colonie.

Release

In September 2020,

acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on March 26, 2021.

Reception

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds a 45% approval rating based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.40/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film holds a rating of 50 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Jeannette Catsoulis of the ''New York Times'' wrote that the film was "a loving gift to superfans of the English band The Smiths...this sweetly nostalgic look at lost boys and lonely girls feels like it comes straight from the heart."

Armond White Armond White (born ) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and ''Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly ''New York Press'' (1997–201 ...

's review in ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

'' stated: "This is an alternative-rock version of ''American Graffiti''...(the) music's dramatic resonances are, moment to moment, breathtaking"; he also wrote: "If The Smiths were the greatest group of the Eighties, this film about American teens' heartfelt response, reveals the most intense longing for personal expression in the history of popular culture. Stephen Kijak creates one poignant, exultant scene after another." Ken Scrudato of

BlackBook ''BlackBook'' is an arts and culture magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase ...

wrote: "The film is haunted by a kind of inescapable, mournful nostalgia, as it piercingly reminds of the irreversible demise of the sort of weirdo tribalism that once so intensely bound together all those living just beyond the fringes of societal acceptance – a tribalism that has been replaced by the Instagramming of pancakes and the soulless obsession with 60-second TikTok videos about absolutely nothing...these were indeed the songs that saved your life – and ''Shoplifters of the World'' rightly and properly celebrates them."

Reaction from Morrissey

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

' lead singer

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

voiced his approval of the film, stating on his website: "I laughed, I cried, I ate my own head. The Smiths' past still sounds like today's frustrations and tomorrow's liberations."https://www.morrisseycentral.com/messagesfrommorrissey/morrissey-loves

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{The Smiths 2021 films American comedy-drama films Films about radio people Films directed by Stephen Kijak Films set in Denver 2021 comedy-drama films The Smiths 2021 independent films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films