20th Century Women
Movie, 2016, The 2010s, Set in Santa Barbara, 1979
20th Century Women is #9 of 37 in release order and #9 of 37 in chronological order in the A24.
The story
In 1979 Santa Barbara, California, Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie, at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women – Abbie, a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields' home and Julie, a savvy and provocative teenage neighbour – to help with Jamie's upbringing.
20th Century Women recap
20th Century Women (2016) follows Dorothea Fields, a single mother in 1979 Santa Barbara, who asks two younger women to help her raise her teenage son. Mike Mills writes and directs, drawing on his own mother. Dorothea (Annette Bening), 55, runs a big rambling house with lodgers: the photographer Abbie Porter (Greta Gerwig), recovering from cervical cancer, and William (Billy Crudup), a carpenter fixing up the place. Her son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), 15, is close to Julie Hamlin (Elle Fanning), 17, who sneaks into his bed to talk but refuses to sleep with him. Abbie takes Jamie to punk clubs and hands him feminist books, Julie takes him through pregnancy scares, and Dorothea worries she cannot reach her son and envies the women who can. Each character's future is narrated as the story moves. The film stands alone.
20th Century Women ending explained
20th Century Women ends after a road trip in which Julie tells Jamie she will not sleep with him because they are too close, and he storms off. Dorothea arrives, and mother and son finally talk honestly on the drive home. Narration then tells what becomes of everyone: Julie moves to Paris and chooses not to have children, Abbie stays in Santa Barbara, marries and has two sons, William moves to Sedona to make pottery, and Dorothea finds a partner in 1983 and dies of lung cancer in 1999. Jamie, now a father, tries and fails to describe her to his own son.
Post-credits scenes
No. 20th Century Women has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch 20th Century Women
20th Century Women isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube.
Ratings
IMDb 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 88%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Moonlight, before The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
- Chronological order: after Moonlight, before The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
Cast
- Annette Bening as Dorothea
- Elle Fanning as Julie
- Greta Gerwig as Abbie
- Billy Crudup as William
- Lucas Jade Zumann as Jamie
- Alison Elliott as Julie's Mother
- Thea Gill as Abbie's Mother
- Vitaly Andrew LeBeau as Young Jamie
- Olivia Hone as Julie's Sister
- Waleed Zuaiter as Charlie
- Curran Walters as Matt
- Darrell Britt-Gibson as Julian
Directed by Mike Mills.