Dazed and Confused

The year is 1976, the place is Austin, Texas, and it's the last day at Robert E. Lee High School before summer vacation. The atmosphere is electric. Many skip the final hours, cruise aimlessly around in their cars, listen to music and talk excitedly about tonight's big party that "everyone" is going to. Newly arrived freshmen, however, have completely different things to worry about: the dreaded physical and psychological initiation rituals that the seniors are eager to subject them to – an annual tradition the local community seems to take for granted and accept, even appears to be amused by. Over the next 24 hours, we meet young people from all social groups at the school – jocks, stoners, nerds, and of course everyone in between these extremes – and take part in their celebration of the start of a new summer. Richard Linklater's coming-of-age classic – steeped in equal measures of joy and melancholy.