Paranoid Park: Synopsis

Based on a young adult novel by Blake Nelson, Paranoid Park concerns a teen-aged boy who frequents a suburban skate park, hypnotized by its punk energy and the anarchic spirit he discovers there. When a crime of horrific violence occurs nearby, the boy finds himself at the center of a criminal investigation. Within this rather straightforward construct, Van Sant fragments the narrative, trusting the audience to assemble the nonlinear details and impressions to resolve the story for themselves. The film is as fluid, obsessive, and mysterious as the young skateboarder's own maturing consciousness, as he struggles to connect his sense of being and self to the society and culture around him.