Dazed and Confused takes place on May 28, 1976, the last day of school at Lee High School in a small Texas town. Unlike many high school films set in the ’70s, Richard Linklater‘s 1993 indie film follows one long, strange night of cruising and keg parties, showcasing how teenagers try to find themselves during the summertime. The movie was written and directed by Linklater, inspired by his own youth in East Texas and filmed around Austin.
Released on September 24, 1993, it was not a huge hit at first, but it found its audience over time and became one of the great cult high school movies of the ’90s. Looking back, the cast is jam-packed with stars, featuring Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Joey Lauren Adams, and Renée Zellweger, all of whom were relatively unknown at the time.