
Mixtape
By Jennifer Green,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Serious themes, language in poignant tween dramedy.

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Mixtape
Community Reviews
Based on 4 parent reviews
Good for 10 + Or 9 if you think your child’s ready
What's the Story?
It's 1999 and Bev Moody (Gemma Brooke Allen) is a straight-A 7th grader who lives with and always obeys the rules of her strict grandma (Julie Bowen) in MIXTAPE. When Bev discovers a cassette tape made by her parents, who died in a car crash when she was just 2 years old, she sees a way to get to know them better and decides to hunt down all the songs on it. Her journey introduces her to "Anti" (Nick Thune), a sarcastic record store owner who begrudgingly helps out, and prompts her to befriend neighbor Ellen (Audrey Hsieh) and punk classmate Nicky (Olga Petsa). She'll wind up learning as much about herself and her grandma as she does about her parents.
Is It Any Good?
This terrific rendering of the energy, innocence, and angst of the tween years squeezes a lot of emotion and a cast of memorable characters into its 97 minutes. Mixtape perfectly captures how tweens hit that critical point of growth where they push away from parents (or in this case, a grandparent) and look to define their own identities. The fact that 7th grader Bev's mom went through something similar, then ended up pregnant at 15 and dead in a car crash, makes the transition that much more meaningful. We feel this acutely in Julie Bowen's portrayal of the no-nonsense postal worker grandma, emotionally stuck in her inability to face the loss of her daughter or allow her granddaughter latitude from a predetermined safer path.
Life doesn't always go the way we plan. The tweens know this, trained for survival in the comically cruel social world of middle school. Good girls Bev and Ellen are reminiscent of Gilmore Girls' Rory and BFF Lane, and Gemma Brooke Allen and Audrey Hsieh are perfect in the roles. Same goes for Olga Petsa as Nicky, their classmate who dresses and acts tough but is also just tween girl waiting for her period and searching for her place. Record store owner "Anti" (a droll Nick Thune) is a recovering alcoholic with a world-weary demeanor and a heart of gold. If the characters themselves convey how even good intentions can go awry, then the film's overly-tidy ending should likewise be forgiven. Rainy, emerald-green Spokane, an interior city in the Pacific Northwest, was a subtle and meaningful choice of settings that matches the '70s and '80s soundtrack to set the mood for this story of love, loss, friendship, and life.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the concept of a Mixtape. Anti says they offer a message from the sender to the receiver and must be listened to in order. What's the equivalent today of a mixtape?
How is middle school portrayed in this film? Is it how you have imagined or experienced it? How so or not?
What was the concern behind "Y2K"? What came of it? Where could you go for more information?
How do the music, setting, and time period of this film complement the story and the characters? How would the mood of the film change if these aspects were different?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: December 3, 2021
- Cast: Julie Bowen , Gemma Brooke Allen , Audrey Hsieh
- Director: Valerie Weiss
- Inclusion Information: Female directors, Female actors
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Friendship , Great Girl Role Models , Middle School
- Run time: 97 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Award: Common Sense Selection
- Last updated: August 30, 2023
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