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We Used to Be Cool

Name: We Used to Be Cool
Director: Marie Kreutzer
Released: 2016
Duration: 96 min

Representation Score

5.4/10

Fair

2016

Director

Marie Kreutzer

Runtime

96 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Marie Kreutzer’s satire offers a sophisticated look at the disintegration of identity within the modern bourgeoisie. The film succeeds by prioritizing complex gender dynamics and a sharp critique of consumerist social signaling. However, the film is limited by a lack of racial and ethnic diversity. The focus remains strictly on the cultural nuances of the white Austrian urban middle class. Ultimately, the work trades broad demographic representation for deep sociological insight into class and lifestyle-driven identity.

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Category Breakdown

Does We Used to Be Cool have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film explores the fluidity of identity during adolescence and early adulthood. It incorporates non-straight relationships naturally, avoiding heavy-handed clichés to challenge traditional structures.

How does We Used to Be Cool portray gender?

Good

Women's ability to drive the story and their emotional complexity are central to the narrative. The film challenges traditional hierarchies by focusing on the intellectual and internal lives of its women.

How racially and ethnically diverse is We Used to Be Cool?

Limited

The cast is predominantly white and European, reflecting its specific Viennese setting. This focus on the Austrian middle class results in a very homogeneous visual landscape.

How does We Used to Be Cool represent religion and culture?

Good

The satire brilliantly deconstructs modern consumerism and performative lifestyles. It examines the tension between individual freedom and the social obligations of the middle class.

Does We Used to Be Cool include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no significant evidence regarding the portrayal of visible or invisible disabilities within the narrative.

Present on Screen

Sophisticated portrayal of women's ability to drive the story and their emotional depth.
Nuanced integration of non-straight relationships and fluid attractions.
Sharp, effective satire of modern consumerism and social signaling.

Limited or Absent

Significant lack of racial and ethnic diversity within the cast.
Homogeneous visual landscape due to a narrow focus on European middle-class life.
Absence of representation regarding visible or invisible disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Three couples in Vienna have children at around the same time. They're all in their mid-30s, successful, cool and live in a popular part of town. As idealistic as they are materialistic, they grow tomatoes on the balcony, drink locally roasted coffee and expensive cocktails and would never buy an electronic device sporting a half-eaten apple. And they're absolutely certain that you can have children without becoming bourgeois. But the reality tells a different story. Between career and kindergarten, Apple and alternative lifestyles, the satire plays cleverly with hipster clichés and mercilessly points up the gap between the old self-image and the new bourgeoisie.

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