Film Review – All This Panic

In 2008, there was “American Teen,” a buzzy documentary about adolescents in the Midwest struggling with life, love, and a year of high school. Director Nanette Burstein aimed for verite, but she couldn’t hide the fiction, caught creating instead of observing, which rendered the film useless. “All This Panic” shares a similar vibe, submitting itself as a documentary on New York City teenagers trying to find their way in the great big world, with director Jenny Gage surveying their battles at home and with one another, trying to fashion a depiction of maturation over a three-year-long shooting period. And yet, large sections of “All This Panic” feel cooked to make a movie, with the stars spending as much time posing for the camera as they do dealing with one another. There are moments when the effort looks more like an acting reel than a non-fiction odyssey into juvenile decision-making. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com