Acid Test
2017 · 14m · USA
Directed by Jenny Waldo
Genres: comedy, coming-of-age, drama
Tones: darkly comic, surreal, tender
When 16-year-old Jenny comes home from a Riot Grrrl concert and tells her parents she is tripping on acid, the resulting hallucinogenic parental meltdown unravels the family dynamic as she discovers the power of rebellion. Drawn from director Jenny Waldo's own 1992 Washington D.C. teenage years.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A teenage acid trip as the skeleton key to a suburban family implosion—Waldo takes the most obvious rebellion and uses it to detonate the myth that parents have it figured out, which is the opposite of what you'd expect from a coming-of-age film, and it *works*.
The film situates itself squarely in the lineage of 90s indie cinema and feminist punk aesthetics, using psychedelia not as spectacle but as a formally rigorous device for exploring generational rupture and the limits of parental authority.
The decision to score the family chaos with Bikini Kill—letting the music do the emotional and narrative work rather than dialogue or plot mechanics—transforms what could've been a predictable after-school-special into something that feels lived and urgent.
Reviews
Waldo's 2017 original short was a work of psychedelic genius, where a teen girl drops acid at a Riot Grrl show.
A beautiful and visual film about growing up and discovering who you are — a coming-of-age story that weaves together friendship, parenthood, love and a little bit of acid.
Festivals
- Literally Short Film Festival 2017
- Austin Film Festival 2017
- BendFilm Festival 2017
- Houston Latino Film Festival 2017
- Austin Film Society Shortcase at SXSW 2017
- Women in Film and Television International Short Film Showcase 2017