The Exploding Girl

In her first leading role, Zoe Kazan plays Ivy, a twenty—year—old college student home for spring break. She’s excited about a developing romance back at school and life is seemingly perfect. When her longtime friend Al finds himself without a place to stay during the break, Ivy and her mother take him in and Al and Ivy’s friendship strengthens while her boyfriend grows more and more distant. Increasingly distressed about her conflicting feelings, Ivy struggles to keep control, not wanting overwhelming her emotions and trigger her epilepsy. Restrained and meditative, THE EXPLODING GIRL is the exquisite portrait of a young girl coming of age and finding a deeper kind of love in New York City.

“Lovely...an exquisitely observed character study.” (Melissa Anderson, Village Voice)

“Zoe Kazan’s central performance anchors the film with uncommon emotional heft.” (Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York)

“Avoiding allegorical clichés, Gray turns the frustrations of epilepsy into an effective metaphor for non-epileptic youthful paralysis, and the inevitable "explosion" into the culmination of all those growing pains.” (Karina Longworth, Village Voice)