SubUrbia
Initially I was a little disappointed. The first half hour positions itself to be kind of a Dazed & Confused 2. It's not unusual for a Linklater film to be an ensemble cast and take place in a suburban environment over a single night, but even though people tend to think some of his films are 'samey', I think they're all very distinct really, and I was beginning to feel like this was the first of his films that really felt redundant. As the film builds, it becomes clear it's a much smaller cast and for the most part a single story, unlike Dazed. Ultimately it felt very much like a companion piece. Dazed has a hopeful, inspiring outlook, and it takes place in a pivotal moment in many of the character's lives, it's a transformative night, and while lots of notable things happen in SubUrbia, no one comes away any different, it's an extremely dark film by comparison.
During the first half I couldn't understand why Linklater would choose to direct an adaptation of what felt like it was going to be so derivative of his own work, but I think it ended up being the ultimate fuck you to the 'Generation X' box he'd been placed in at the time.
He's made dark films, Tape obviously, Sunset in a way, but this film is dark without giving the audience a hope for the characters, or even culture it depicts. It's not his best film certainly, but it holds a distinct place within his career, and it's certainly well worth watching for any Linklater fan.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, I got it from iTunes, and it lists it as a comedy. That is some misleading bullshit.
