My wife and I really liked Submarine a lot. It’s a throwback to the glorious Indie Renaissance of the 90’s. The writing is crisp, funny and unusual, and it features marvelously written narration, delivered well by the main character. The film is also visually striking, with some really beautiful montage sequences set to a really cool (and highly original) score. There is a complete absence of the existential vacuousness and post-modern downer shit that virtually defines the current indie scene. It even has (gasp!) a non-ambiguous ending, something that is has become almost sacrilegious in the slavishly formulaic milieux of modern indie dreck.

Submarine has two main story lines. One is a coming-of-age tale of young love, the other a humorous view of dysfunctional parents from the point of view of the child. The love story, besides being funny, also captures many lovely and subtle things about what it is to be in love when you are young. The dysfunctional parents story is mainly for laughs, but still maintains a measure of seriousness throughout. Both are very engaging, and they gel together well.

I highly recommend Submarine.