Julie Bowen & Gemma Brooke Allen Talk Mixtape

0 Shares

Time waits for no one.

Netflix has been bringing all of the nostalgia to the screen and we are here for it! Their latest feel-good family film, Mixtape, brings us back to the ’90s, complete with Sony Walkmans, vinyl records, and the looming threat of Y2K. Mixtape, now streaming on Netflix, stars Gemma Brooke Allen and Julie Bowen in a poignant story about family, love, and loss.

Mixtape Review

On the evening of Y2K, 12-year-old Beverly Moody (Allen) discovers a broken mixtape, put together by her teen parents who died in a car accident when she was a baby. Now being raised by her grandmother Gail (Bowen), Beverly longs to connect with her late parents and believes the mixtape is her bridge to the past. Mixtape follows Beverly’s journey to find all of the songs on the mixtape, and along the way, she befriends her quirky neighbor Ellen (Audrey Hsieh), tough girl Nicky (Olga Petsa), and Anti (Nick Thune), a record store owner who’s name symbolizes his opposition to pretty much everything.

Anyone who lived through the 90s can relate to the uncertainty surrounding Y2K and the looming threat of systematic failure and chaos. And while at the time, there was much angst leading up to that New Year’s Eve ball drop, the setting, reminds us of a simpler time where a failed computer system was the greatest threat.

Mixtape follows Beverly’s journey to know and connect with her late parents. During the 80s and 90s, mix tapes became a popular form of expression. This compilation of music was typically done with intention and meaning, and a fitting medium for Beverly to learn about her parents. Beverly sets out to find all of the songs, in hopes that she will learn more about who her parents were. What she comes away with is a deeper understanding of herself and a stronger bond with her grandmother.