Sing Street (2016)
Street of Dreams Sing Street is that rare coming-of-age film that is near-perfect in every way. It’s confident in what type of film it wants to be and it’s nostalgic without that nostalgia being the main attraction. In other words, it is not that film only your parents will understand and enjoy, although they most certainly will enjoy it as well as younger people who love 80’s New Wave and New Romantics music as much as I do. Most importantly, it loves its characters. The film wants them to achieve their dreams just as much as the audience does. There is struggle, but it never once becomes gratuitously depressing to the point of unwatchability. Both the film and the characters are optimistic. One character accurately sums up the entirety of Sing Street when she talks about what love is: Happy-sad. The film takes place in Dublin during the mid-1980s. Ireland is going through a recession and the masses are flocking to London with the hope of better lives.