River’s Edge (1986)

AKA: –
Directed by: Tim Hunter
Starring: Crispin Glover (Layne), Keanu Reeves (Matt), Dennis Hopper (Feck), Daniel Roebuck (Samson), Joshua John Miller (Tim), Ione Skye (Clarissa), Roxana Zal (Maggie)
Country: United States Effed Up American Films
Language: English (Optional Eng Subs)
Runtime: 01:39:39
Genres: Teens, Violence against Women, Dolls, Based on a True Story

Plot – Spoilers:
Samson strangles his girlfriend and leaves her body by the river. He then brags about it to his friends at school and takes them to the new tourist spot. The friends aren’t sure how to react and spend the next few days confused about their feelings and mostly quiet. One of them though is hot on the situation and as the self-appointed leader of the group, takes it upon himself to bundle Samson away from the law.

River’s Edge is a quiet and powerful portrayal of shared numbness among disparate, yet interesting characters. There’s Feck, the one-legged local dealer who kills his loneliness with a blowup doll. He carries intimidating stories from his past, but feels inadequate in the presence of Samson’s boisterous psychopathy. In Tim, there’s the searing resentment of a kid’s ambitious growth hormones stunted by the body they’re festering in. And of course, Layne – memorably played by Crispin Glover – who thinks he’s part of some kind of novel or movie.

In River’s Edge, the adults are obsessed with why the kids aren’t reacting the way they would. What gets everyone is the lack of obviously-displayed empathy, which is probably something users of this site would identify with – now, or from a past phase.