David Stratton of The Australian writes:
WHIT Stillman possesses an unusual and specific sensibility and his films to date – social satires involving the east coast preppy set – can be considered charming and witty or enervating according to your point of view.
Metropolitan, Stillman’s 1989 debut, was a delicious social comedy about debutantes and their beaus that, though contemporary in setting, could have taken place at the beginning of the 20th century. It was followed by Barcelona (1994) and The Last Days of Disco (1998), and all three films were, to an extent, autobiographical; Stillman is the son of a politician from New York state and he has intimate knowledge of the bittersweet world of privilege he parodies so elegantly.
Thirteen years after Disco, Stillman’s eagerly awaited fourth feature, Damsels in Distress, finally appeared a year ago as the closing night attraction in Venice and seems to be having trouble finding cinemas willing to screen it in this country.