SHOPLIFTERS OF THE WORLD Trailer

It’s a night of The Smiths in Shoplifters of the World, the latest from director Stephen Kijak.

The young, bored characters of this movie could be found at any time in history, but there are only a few moments when they could mourn the breakup of a truly great band. One of those came in 1987 when The Smiths announced they were done and fans everywhere were left stunned. Feeling a tragedy was occurring in a town where no one cared (and also trying to impress a girl), one of them gets the bright idea to hold up the local radio station and force them to play The Smiths nonstop, leading to a truly wild night.

SHOPLIFTERS OF THE WORLD Trailer
source: RLJE Films

Kijak may not have a lot of narrative features under his belt, but his extensive work directing music documentaries should make him the perfect man to capture the wonder that The Smiths engendered in their fans. It looks like he has access to plenty of their music (the trailer boasts that 20 songs are used), so even if the movie goes off the rails they’ll still be good tunes to enjoy.

The cast is mostly unremarkable young actors with a handful of credits to their name, the exception being Boyhood’s Ellar Coane and Madeline’s Madeline breakout Helena Howard. We know the latter can dance, and that’ll probably be key for all the actors involved. Let the music take center stage and this movie will probably turn out fine.

Shoplifters of the World is directed by Stephen Kijak and stars Helena Howard, Ellar Coane, Elena Kampouris, and Nick Krause. It will be released in the US on March 26th, 2021. For international release dates, click here.

Will you tune in to this one? Let us know in the comments!

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