Splendor in the Grass

Appeals to viewers who value emotionally devastating romantic dramas about desire constrained by family, morality, and social respectability.

Tone

melancholic, romantic, bleak

Payoff

heartbreak, catharsis

Pacing

steady

Intensity

intense

Structure

linear

Themes

sexual repression, social expectation, class privilege, mental illness, lost love

Setting

1920s American Midwest, conservative small town and affluent family homes