# Youth in Revolt (film)
**Youth in Revolt** is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta, adapted by Gustin Nash from C.D. Payne's 1993 novel *Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp*. [Michael Cera](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-cera) stars as Nick Twisp, a studious teenage virgin who invents a swaggering bad-boy alter ego, François Dillinger, to pursue Sheeni Saunders ([Portia Doubleday](https://www.edgepedia.org/portia-doubleday)) after his family moves to a trailer park.[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youth_in_revolt)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | January 8, 2010 (US, wide), after about a year of schedule shifts; premiered at the Toronto film festival[3](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/61199-exclusive-director-miguel-arteta-on-youth-in-revolt) |
| Director / writer | Miguel Arteta; screenplay by Gustin Nash, based on C.D. Payne's novel[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/) |
| Stars | Michael Cera as Nick Twisp / François Dillinger; Portia Doubleday as Sheeni Saunders[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/) |
| Budget / box office | $18,000,000 budget; $6,888,334 domestic opening; $15,281,286 domestic and $19,651,093 worldwide gross[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/) |
| Rating / runtime | Rated R for sexual content, language, and drug use; 90 minutes[4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/youth-in-revolt) |
| Reception | 66% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (168 reviews); 6.4/10 on IMDb from about 78,000 voters[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youth_in_revolt) |
| Filming | 40-day shoot from November 17, 2008 in Ann Arbor, Saline, and southeast Michigan, using the state's 42% production incentive[5](https://saturation.io/budgets/youth-in-revolt-2010) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Nick Twisp is an intelligent, awkward teenager and a fan of [Albert Camus](https://www.edgepedia.org/albert-camus) and [Jean-Luc Godard](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-luc-godard) who is uprooted when his mother and her boyfriend move the family to a trailer park. He falls for Sheeni Saunders, a [Francophile](https://www.edgepedia.org/francophile) neighbor who plays records by French crooners, but she already has a boyfriend and her devout parents plan to send her to boarding school. To stay near her and win her over, Nick creates François Dillinger, a cigarette-smoking alter ego with a pencil mustache and a cruel streak, who carries out the schemes Nick would never attempt himself.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/youth-in-revolt) • [7](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/movies/youth-in-revolt/)
The supporting cast includes [Jean Smart](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-smart) as Nick's mother Estelle, Zach Galifianakis as Jerry, Steve Buscemi, Justin Long as Sheeni's stoner brother, [Fred Willard](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-willard), Ray Liotta as a policeman who falls for Nick's mother, and [Mary Kay Place](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-kay-place) as Mrs. Saunders.[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/) • [8](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/youth-in-revolt-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
## Development and production
The project began development at [Dimension Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/dimension-films) in 2003, with Payne's cult novel as the source. Nash, who had written *Charlie Bartlett* (2007), wrote the screenplay. Several directors were attached over the years, including [David Gordon Green](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-gordon-green), before Arteta, known for *The Good Girl* and *Chuck & Buck*, joined in 2007. Cera signed in 2008 after his breakouts in *Superbad* and *Juno*; he had been attached for a couple of years before Arteta came aboard, and producer [Bob Weinstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-weinstein) pushed the film into production with a May 2008 start.[5](https://saturation.io/budgets/youth-in-revolt-2010) • [3](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/61199-exclusive-director-miguel-arteta-on-youth-in-revolt)
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on November 17, 2008, primarily in Ann Arbor, Saline, and the broader southeast Michigan corridor. The forty-day shoot, which wrapped in January 2009, used Michigan's then-new 42% production incentive program, described as the most generous US state film credit at the time and a factor that made Michigan a dominant US production hub from 2008 to 2011 before the program was scaled back.[5](https://saturation.io/budgets/youth-in-revolt-2010)
**Visual effects and animation.** The sequences in which Nick and François appear together required extensive motion-control photography and seam-removal compositing during post-production in 2009.[5](https://saturation.io/budgets/youth-in-revolt-2010) Animator Peter Sluszka joined early in pre-production and worked on the project for over a year, matching camera moves with motion control on fabricated sets so that live-action actors could be replaced with animation puppets; the team also played with scale, using a tiny car for traveling aerial shots intercut with the full-size car and characters. He described the animation sequences as trimmed from more numerous ones as the script developed.[9](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/peter-sluszka-interview-youth-in-revolt/)
## Release and box office
The film premiered at the Toronto film festival and was shifted around the release schedule for about a year before opening wide in the United States on January 8, 2010, distributed by Dimension Films.[3](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/61199-exclusive-director-miguel-arteta-on-youth-in-revolt) • [1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/) Against its $18 million budget it earned a $6,888,334 domestic opening and finished with $15,281,286 domestically (77.8% of its total) and $4,369,807 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $19,651,093.[1](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 66% Tomatometer from 168 reviews, with a critics consensus calling it "a fun, funny comic romp that lets Michael Cera stretch a little and introduces filmgoers to a major find in Portia Doubleday"; the audience Popcornmeter stands at 52%.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youth_in_revolt) IMDb users rate it 6.4/10 from about 78,000 votes.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/youth-in-revolt)
Critics generally credited the cast while faulting the adaptation. Screen International's review placed it in the spate of edgy coming-of-age comedies like *Superbad* and *Adventureland*, finding that Arteta staged funny sequences but was "at the mercy of a story" burdened by genre conventions, and that the François conceit "bears little comedic fruit".[10](https://www.screendaily.com/youth-in-revolt/5005784.article) The San Diego Reader's Duncan Shepherd called it "a cut-above teen comedy" and praised Cera's diffident way with a funny line, noting that the alter ego gave the actor "an opportunity to stretch himself without the obligation of credibility".[7](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/movies/youth-in-revolt/) Eye for Film found the supporting cast underused, with [Zach Galifianakis](https://www.edgepedia.org/zach-galifianakis) "wasted in a role that never goes anywhere" but strong cameos from [Steve Buscemi](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-buscemi) and [M. Emmet Walsh](https://www.edgepedia.org/m-emmet-walsh).[8](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/youth-in-revolt-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) SBS's review judged that Arteta's faithfulness to Payne's text and themes "never gel as a wholly satisfying film", while noting that fans of the books were pleased.[11](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/youth-in-revolt-review/vx7k41uik)
## References
1. [Youth in Revolt (2009) – Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0403702/credits/)
2. [Youth in Revolt – Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youth_in_revolt)
3. [Exclusive: Director Miguel Arteta on Youth in Revolt – ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/61199-exclusive-director-miguel-arteta-on-youth-in-revolt)
4. [Youth in Revolt – Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/youth-in-revolt)
5. [Youth in Revolt (2010) Budget and Production History – Saturation.io](https://saturation.io/budgets/youth-in-revolt-2010)
6. [Youth in Revolt streaming: where to watch online? – JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/youth-in-revolt)
7. [Youth in Revolt – San Diego Reader](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/movies/youth-in-revolt/)
8. [Youth In Revolt (2009) Movie Review – Eye for Film](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/youth-in-revolt-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
9. [Peter Sluszka interview: Youth In Revolt – Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/peter-sluszka-interview-youth-in-revolt/)
10. [Youth In Revolt – Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/youth-in-revolt/5005784.article)
11. [Youth in Revolt Review – SBS](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/youth-in-revolt-review/vx7k41uik)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2009 to 2010 › Released in 2009*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license