Dazed and Confused finds itself on the list of the best films that look back on the 1970s. A film that came to my mind when watching Dazed and Confused was Almost Famous, a film made almost a decade after the 1993 movie. Both feature hallmarks of the period, paying particular attention to the music of the decade. But, Almost Famous feels glossier, and a bit more sentimental. Dazed and Confused similarly feels nostalgic, but captures an atmosphere that feels radically authentic. The fabrics and colors feel lived in, with muted film grain and so much denim. Both Cameron Crowe and Richard Linklater are looking back on their younger years, but Linklater captures something that feels more universal. 

There are elements in Dazed and Confused that feel very “nineties”, such as the nerdier group of friends’ very Dawson’s Creek way of speaking, with the series being released a few years after the film. The cast of Dazed is incredible, made up of many early roles which harken to the types that would dominate their future filmographies. Parker Posey is hilarious as the mean girl and Ben Affleck plays an asshole perfectly. Of course, Matthew McConaughey makes quite the entrance, with the endlessly quotable quip- “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.” This line is infinitely more witty than the later line about high school girls that would dominate the film’s place in pop culture– you know the one I’m referencing. 

It’s interesting to think about Dazed as the 1990’s reckoning with the 1970’s. Dazed was made during the 90’s indie boom, in which filmmakers like David Fincher, Spike Jonze, and Linklater himself, looked to New Hollywood of the 70’s to inspire their films of the 90’s. Cynthia (Marissa Ribisi) states: 

“I call it the “every other decade” theory. The 50’s were boring. The 60’s rocked. The 70’s, my god, they obviously suck. So maybe the 80s will be like, radical. I figure we’ll be in our 20’s and hey, it can’t get any worse.” 

Ironically, I would argue that Dazed seems to look back on the 70’s with a certain fondness. We look to the previous decades, enraptured by a public memory. And yet, teenagers experience these periods pretty unchanged from decade to decade. Yes– social media now exists– but universal themes such as innate rebellion and the anxieties of an uncertain future still circle through a teenager’s mind. 

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is how it approaches time. Playing with time is a central theme of Linklater’s filmography. His earlier film, Slacker, takes place across a single day. Later works stretch out across years, such as the Before trilogy and Boyhood. Dazed takes place across a single day broken up into three parts: the end of the last day of school as exposition, Act 1: after school, Act 2: driving around aimlessly, looking for fun, Act 3: the party, and the film’s resolution represented as the morning after. And yet, the film is radically linear; following these kid’s schedules in a way that feels so authentic and relatable to teenagers across generations. The intense focus on this single day also has thematic significance. In one scene, Cynthia remarks “You know, I’d like to quit thinking of the present, like right now, as some minor insignificant preamble to something else.” By committing to focus on one single day in these high schoolers’ lives, Linklater gives these kids attention, therefore finding meaning in the everyday. 

Another storytelling choice pops up in the parallels between the incoming freshmen and the rising seniors. Randall (Jason London) is paired with Mitch (Wiley Wiggins), while Jodi (Michelle Burke) is paired with Sabrina (Christin Hinojosa). For the freshmen, everything is a new experience. Sabrina goes through a car wash in an initiation ritual, seeming to be baptized into this new phase in her life. For the seniors, something seems to be ending, with Hitchcock’s final film Family Plot displayed prominently on a drive-in sign behind the seniors in a parking lot. And yet, Linklater constantly draws parallels between the two groups, seeming to suggest that really none of these kids have anything figured out. As the end of high school approaches, these kids don’t know what they’re doing. So beyond the linear nature of the plot, time is also explored in comparing the beginning and end of adolescence. 

I watched this movie for the first time with my teenage sister and parents. My parents grew up in the nineties, and my sister and I grew up in the 21st century. Despite this, there’s something incredibly nostalgic about this movie. Little details– like sitting on your front curb waiting for a ride, frizzy hair in the summer humidity, and awkward silence with a crush evoke a feeling of familiarity. For me the highlight of the whole film is the feeling Linklater captures with the morning after daze. The characters have a sense of euphoric freedom that comes when you don’t know what you’re doing with your life. It doesn’t matter if you’re confused, all that matters is the road immediately ahead, and your friends smiling in the morning light.