Film

Slacker

Name: Slacker
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: 1990
Cast: Richard Linklater, Rudy Basquez, Jean Caffeine, Jan Hockey, Stephan Hockey

Linklater's plotless day in Austin drifts from one oddball monologue to the next — conspiracy theorists, backseat philosophers, petty anarchists — the camera handing off to a new stranger every few minutes instead of following a story. It's atmosphere and talk rather than plot, warm rather than judgmental about a generation going nowhere fast. Watch it loose and unhurried, as a mood rather than a movie.

TMDb rating

6.7

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Dazed and Confused1993

Linklater's own follow-up swaps Austin's drifters for one last day of 1976 high school — same roaming camera, same faith that hanging out is plot enough, with more music and mischief thrown in.

But Trades Slacker's philosophical detours for teenage swagger and nostalgia; less wandering mind, more wandering party.

Clerks1994

Kevin Smith's black-and-white convenience-store comedy is Slacker's East Coast cousin — cheap, talky, plotless, full of people rambling their way through a shift instead of doing anything useful.

But Cruder and more joke-driven than Slacker's loose philosophizing; sitcom energy where Slacker has mood.

Waking Life2001

Linklater returns to the same wandering structure a decade later, but rotoscoped into shifting animation, turning street-corner philosophy into something closer to a fever dream.

But Even more plotless than Slacker, and the animation's woozy shimmer can feel exhausting stretched over ninety minutes.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

La Ronde1950

Both films are built on the same trick: the camera abandoning its subject mid-scene to follow whoever they bump into next, turning the whole cast into a single continuous handoff.

Forty years before Slacker, Max Ophüls built an entire film out of the same relay structure — one character's story handing off to the next as they pass each other in the street, forming an unbroken chain of Vienna's citizens.

But Ornate, composed, and formally precise — the opposite of Slacker's ragged spontaneity; if you loved the mess, order might disappoint.

Metropolitan1990

Whit Stillman's debut swaps Austin's scruffy eccentrics for Manhattan debutantes, but keeps the same faith that a group of aimless young people talking is worth your evening.

But Trades Slacker's grubby democracy for upper-crust wit and tuxedos; a much more mannered kind of drifting.

Kicking and Screaming1995no page yet

Noah Baumbach's directorial debut follows recent college grads too clever and too scared to actually leave campus, marinating in the same directionless dread and comic self-sabotage.

But More conventionally plotted and less freewheeling than Slacker's structure-free wander through an entire town.

Reality Bites1994no page yet

The glossier, more mainstream Gen X hangout movie — underemployed grads, ironic detachment, a soundtrack built for the moment — same generational shrug, sold with a bigger budget.

But Far more romantic-comedy shaped than Slacker; the drifting is set dressing here, not the whole point.

Empire Records1995no page yet

A single chaotic day inside a record store, stuffed with oddballs who'd fit right into Slacker's Austin — smaller cast, tighter space, same hangout-first instinct.

But Broader and more sitcom-cute than Slacker's shagginess; the eccentrics are cast for charm, not authenticity.

Ghost World2001

Two aimless teenage girls drift through a dead-end town collecting weirdos and killing time, sharing Slacker's affection for people going nowhere in particular.

But Has an actual emotional arc and ending Slacker refuses to give you; more coming-of-age than pure wander.

Before Sunrise1995

Linklater again, distilling the wandering-and-talking formula down to two people and one night in Vienna — same trust that conversation alone can carry a film.

But Romantic and intimate where Slacker is communal and scattershot; an entirely different temperature.

Chronicle of a Summer1961no page yet

Slacker's naturalistic monologues are staged to feel like overheard documentary; this earlier film is the actual documentary that pioneered letting ordinary people ramble on camera about their lives.

This landmark of cinéma vérité stops real Parisians on the street and asks them to talk about happiness, work, and meaning, capturing the same unscripted-feeling philosophizing Slacker only performs.

But No actors, no jokes, and far more interested in postwar French anxiety than stoner comedy — a genuinely different temperature.

Kids1995

Both structure a whole film around one aimless day and a cast that hands the story off to whoever's nearby, but where Slacker finds warmth in going nowhere, Kids finds horror in it.

Same engine as Slacker — a wandering, plotless day following a loose, baton-passing cast of young people through a city — but swapped into something far rawer, following reckless New York teenagers instead of Austin philosophers.

But Genuinely upsetting where Slacker is affectionate; explicit and bleak, made to unsettle rather than charm.