Youth in Revolt (Movie Review)

*Updated November 2025

Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is a bookish teen who falls hard for Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) and, at her urging, invents a rebellious alter ego, François. His “refined” tastes collide with terrible decisions, leading to mayhem, property damage, and a brush with the law, all in the name of love.

Is Youth in Revolt good?

It’s a sharp teen comedy with elevated dialogue and a knowingly ridiculous alter-ego gag. When the verbal wit clicks, it sings. Some bits strain, but the tone stays self-aware and playful.

Review

It’s only the second week of January, but already Puerto Rican director Miguel Arteta’s Youth in Revolt is my favorite film of the year. The premise is simple: boy meets girl, girl meets boy, and boy wrecks two cars and goes to jail for his love. What’s most appealing and absorbing is the sophisticated English dialogue written by Gustin Nash, based on C. D. Payne’s Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp. Michael Cera could not have been more perfectly cast as the intellectual, Frank Sinatra loving, sardonic virgin teen who comes from heavily dysfunctional parents.

The film revolves around the life of Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), a unique but affable teen with a taste for the finer things in life. He falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful, free-spirited Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) while on a family vacation. But family, geography, and jealous ex-lovers conspire to keep them apart. With Sheeni’s encouragement, Nick abandons his dull, predictable life and develops a rebellious alter ego: François. With his ascot, moustache, and cigarette, François will stop at nothing to be with Sheeni, and leads Nick on a path of destruction with unpredictable, and often uproarious consequences.

It’s rare now to see films that dare to challenge young audiences with language. We saw this template used by indie writer-director Kevin Smith in Clerks, a breakout that made you reach for a dictionary and hear a dozen ways to say “let’s have sex.” That verbal snap also powered Kevin Williamson’s TV series Dawson’s Creek in the late ’90s. I like this take on the teen romance; Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, also with Cera, played with this idea as well.

Another layer I enjoyed is the worldly taste both leads share in music, film, and poetry. Cera’s character loves Sinatra (the first frame opens with the 1960 album Nice ’n’ Easy) and drops Fellini’s La Strada in a DVD store. Doubleday’s character loves French standards from Serge Gainsbourg and is into French New Wave icon Jean-Paul Belmondo, especially Godard’s Breathless. Those highbrow quirks hooked me early.

What doesn’t mix as well is the roguish alter ego François, and a few supporting turns. One highlight: South African actor Adhir Kalyan as Cera’s lascivious friend—very funny. Do teens really think and act like this? Not exactly. But hopefully it nudges some to explore art and culture.

From a Hispanic perspective, it’s great to see a director born in Puerto Rico at the helm. There’s a scarcity of notable features coming from La Isla del Encanto these days. Miguel Arteta may be more American in culture than Puerto Rican, but it’s still gratifying to see a Latino surname attached to a good piece of work, as with his earlier films The Good Girl and Star Maps. The last Puerto Rican film that stood out to me was Maldeamores (Carlos Ruiz Ruiz), a Woody Allen-esque romance with a Caribbean twist. A worthy DVD rental.

For fans of teen romantic comedies, Youth in Revolt is an enjoyable watch peppered with laugh-out-loud moments. It’s rated R, so note that the sexuality can be crude and strong.

Where to watch

Availability changes. If it’s not on your subscriptions, rent or buy from major digital stores (Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play). Disc editions may include extras.

---

More movie reviews