ANGST

"You can see from the way it's written that Angst would be a tantalising screenplay, with its hand on the youth pulse, its setting of Sydney's cosmopolitan Kings Cross, it's characters searching for their slot in the race track of life . . . But you can also see that it's still an immature script (in both senses) and needs a guiding hand to realise its potential. It is also a wordy script, which is a big challenge for first time filmmakers, prone to turgid patches and lack of energy, boring dynamic. It has comic intentions, but the comedy is limited and blunted by the film's inability early on to engage us with the characters. On the other hand, Justin Smith, Abi Tucker and Jessica Napier display their innate talents by working their roles into something credible and interesting. In short, the ideas in the script, and its sense of fun, are somehow buried in the film. It may, of course, work as a date movie, as couples will not be riveted to the screen, able to concentrate on their real objectives, undistracted by the film - which they can return to periodically."
Andrew L. Urban

"The premise shows promise – lonely, sexually frustrated young man becomes introspective and depressed when his girlfriend dumps him. He is writing a screenplay in his spare time, using the colour from his video shop work environment to spark ideas. The screenplay teases, but doesn't quite engross us, failing to make the characters real or textured enough to hold our interest. Dean longs for responsible-free sex, facial hair and hedonism. Jade has her hair dyed green – presumably to match her name. Much of the film is set at night in the sleaze of Kings Cross, and while the target teen market may relate to the setting and get a few laughs from some of the dialogue and situations, Angst is a frustrating journey. In some ways it gives a good slice-of-life view of carefree youth, yet the lack of dynamics and structure in the script let it down badly. Performances are excellent – Jessica Napier has great screen presence as does Abi Tucker while Sam Lewis captures the frustrations to a tee. My biggest frustration was that I really didn't care enough for the characters. When Dean meets up with his internet blind date and finds himself in a coffee shop with two twelve year olds, this situation holds enough promise to make you squeal with delight. But when his precocious date flings a milk shake all over him, we not only fail to see the action, due to a questionable choice of direction, but also fail to sympathise with him in any way. The title is deserving of a more emotional response."
Louise Keller

"Like beauty, angst is often in the eye of the beholder. What to one person may be a major life crisis can be little more than a trivial inconvenience to someone else. Daniel Nettheim’s Angst follows the lives of four post-teen, pre-20 somethings searching for their place in the world. Their search revolves around money, jobs, drugs, sex, booze and pop culture. The trouble is the characters’ fumbling attempts to come to terms with these things will probably seem rather juvenile - petty even - for anyone who’s been around the block a few times. As a result, a number of scenes lack spark, and it becomes difficult to fully empathise with the characters. Still, there are things to like about Angst. There are moments of snappy dialogue, likeable humour and shrewd social observations; and the film has an appealingly grungy look, in keeping with its Kings Cross locale. Sam Lewis imbues Dean with just the right mix of depressed ennui and mischievous cheekiness. He’s a smart arse with a heart. Jessica Napier is strong as Jade; although her character becomes lost amidst Dean’s increasingly desperate efforts to find what he seeks. But I just didn’t buy Justin Smith as Ian, the "westie" looking to make it in the city. His near faultless diction and baby-faced looks (both assets for an actor, I hasten to add) conspire against his character’s believability. Abi Tucker is much more credible as May and proceeds to dominate just about every scene in which she appears. In the end, Angst is an uneven youth film but it shows enough to mark Nettheim as a director to watch."
David Edwards