Ghost World

"Accentuate the negative."

2001 1h 51m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 1,644

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Two quirky, cynical, teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives following high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle-aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.

“Accentuate the negative.”

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Cast

Thora Birch
Enid
Scarlett Johansson
Rebecca
Steve Buscemi
Seymour
Brad Renfro
Josh
Illeana Douglas
Roberta Allsworth
Bob Balaban
Enid's Dad
Stacey Travis
Dana
Charles C. Stevenson Jr.
Norman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Terry Zwigoff
Writers: Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Terry Zwigoff, shot by Affonso Beato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Kitay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Carole Kravetz Aykanian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Accentuate the negative.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0162346 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Terry Zwigoff directs. Affonso Beato behind the camera. David Kitay scores. Carole Kravetz Aykanian cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

125 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany.
3Directed by Terry Zwigoff, shot by Affonso Beato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by David Kitay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Carole Kravetz Aykanian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Accentuate the negative.".
8IMDB entry: tt0162346 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "female friendship", "based on comic", "high school graduation", "best friend".

The technical file

Cinematography: Affonso Beato
Original score: David Kitay
Editing: Carole Kravetz Aykanian
Production design: Edward T. McAvoy
Costume design: Mary Zophres
Makeup / hair: James Ryder
VFX supervisor: Al Magliochetti
Sound: David Parker
Stunt coordinator: Charles Croughwell
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $7,000,000
Box office: $8,800,000
Return: 126% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Ghost World (2001)

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Terry Zwigoff

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-02-19
★ 6/10
Despite some decent efforts on display here, I couldn’t help but think I’d seen it all before. It’s school friends “Enid” (Thora Birch) and “Rebecca” (Scarlet Johansson) who have just finished school and have, hitherto at any rate, been determined to live together whilst they abandon education and get jobs. It’s fair to say that these two women are a bit on the periphery of their community. “Enid”, especially, with her blue hair and punk affections fancies herself as a bit of an artist and has disdain for just about everyone else. To alleviate their boredom, they answer an ad in a lonely hearts type column and encounter the rather sad character that is “Seymour” (Steve Buscemi) to whom neither take much of an instant shine, but with whom “Enid” begins to become friends - without acknowledging that it was them who not only replied to his advert, but who also left him high and dry once they had seen what he looked like on their supposed date. With this friendship taking an unpredictable path and “Enid” gradually managing to distance herself from just about everyone else, it might be too late when she eventually realises the short-sightedness of her ways. At times this is quite a quirky and wittily written coming-of-age drama, but I couldn’t find enough from any of the characters here to care about. We were all selfish and opinionated at that age, with little respect for anything that didn’t meet our (not very exacting) standards, but that doesn’t necessarily make for engaging storytelling. The production seems overly designed to exacerbate the issues from their largely self-inflicted problems and poor life choices, and though Buscemi comes across as quite natural with his portrayal of a nerdy character I felt this film strived to make the bleeding obvious a more pedestrian tale of teen angst than create anything fresh or innovative. Maybe I am just too old, but this didn’t do much for me, sorry.
Wuchak2025-09-24
★ 7/10
When the fun ‘n’ games of high school are over When two Millennials (Thora Birch and Scarlett Johannson) graduate, they find themselves facing adult questions of making a living, finding a place to live, acquiring a romantic partner and the possibility of college. They make fun of an eccentric, lonely bachelor (Steve Buscemi), but one of them is intrigued and starts a relationship with him under the pretense of finding him a girlfriend. “Ghost World” (2001) is a drama that starts out quirky and fun, but takes a sobering turn in the second half. It was helmed by the director of the heralded “Crumb” and retains some residue from that documentary. Beyond the amusing bits, it can be interpreted as a scary portrayal of Millennial failure to adjust to capitalism; and possibly an omen for the entire generation. Based on the late 90s’ graphic novel, it’s essentially a meshing of “The World of Henry Orient” from the early 60s with films like “Lawn Dogs” from four years prior and the contemporaneous “My First Mister,” the latter two focusing on young females connecting with older men. What’s the nature of such relationships? Is it simply friendship that transcends the generation gap? A spiritual father/spiritual daughter thang? Or is there a romantic element? All of these movies, as well as the later “Lost in Translation,” explore these questions and reveal that there’s a thin line between them. “Lost” is easily the best o’ the bunch while this flick would place second IMHO. “Lawn Dogs” is worthwhile, but hindered by awkward and unconvincing scenes while “My First Mister” is much better, yet also hampered by a couple iffy scenes. “Ghost World,” by contrast, is never unconvincing; and it addresses the heavy issues of life. Be forewarned, though, many will find the drama tedious. While the ending is left open, it’s a mistake to interpret it in a tragic way, which has become the predominant theory (rejected by the director and writer). The person in question sees a 'miracle': A bus is patiently waited for by a certain character, which she cynically believes is never going to manifest. When it does, she learns faith, hope and perseverance. Then she proceeds forth into the great unknown. It runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles (and nearby Santa Clarita to the northwest). GRADE: B