Anemoia is a word that means experiencing nostalgia for a time that you have never known or lived through. Licorice Pizza, the latest Oscar-nominated film by acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson, makes me long for the flared-jean, pinball machine days of the 1970s. This surprising film is a classic coming-of-age story mixed with the nostalgic vibes of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; so it ticks many of my boxes!

Set sometime in the early 1970s, the movie follows high schooler Gary and his sweetheart Alana, who is 10 years older than him. Although Gary starts as a 15 year old and Alana as his yearbook photographer, the duo form an intense friendship over the span of 3 years; they start a business together, navigate the horrors of Hollywood casting agents and find a connection despite their age difference.

The plot, simply put, is a bunch of funny stuff that happens, but it’s in a real slice-of-life way that feels very of its time. It’s how life was, or should have been. It’s young people meandering through jobs, projects and relationships with some brilliant and bizarre cameos by Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper and the Haim sisters.

What drew me in most of all was the aesthetic. There was a vibrant energy about all the characters. They ran everywhere. They got into places youth today wouldn’t get into. They improvised everything and thought on their feet. And everything in Licorice Pizza was portrayed without an ounce of irony-poisoning that is so prevalent in the world of today. The characters dealt with their objectives without neuroticism or ego.

Although this movie has a runtime of 2 hours and 13 minutes, it feels long in a good way. Give it a watch, and let me know what you think in the comments!