In addition to some films about angry young men and a few romances, the Tribeca Film Festival this year served up various portraits of young people completely detached from their environment, and others totally galvanized by it.

In a pair of lackluster snapshots of youthful ennui, both About Alex and Palo Alto fail to excite, or even hold interest, as the characters waft around responding to their respective plots. In About Alex, we have a vague rehash of The Big Chill, a college movie many of our parents remember from the 80s, when a group of old school friends reunite for a weekend after one of their own takes his life. Here, Jason Ritter plays Alex, who attempts suicide in the very beginning. This catalyzes his group of college friends—all very different and tenuously in touch via Facebook—to come out to his country house for a Big Chill-style reunion. But the film lacks the darkness of the earlier film, and in fact feels weirdly lighthearted (without earning it). When the shit finally does hit the fan and the characters speak their truth—mainly thanks to resident asshole Josh (Max Greenfield, only adjusting his Schmidt slightly)—it feels rushed and clouded by the inevitable coupling up that happens at the same time. The standout here is Aubrey Plaza, playing against type as the straight edge; she does a bang-up job.

Palo Alto feels like more of the dreary same. Based on a story by the over-exposed, over-done and over-cooked James Franco (whose current Instagram scandals mirror this film to an uncomfortable extent), the film follows high schooler April (Emma Roberts) as she wanders from party to party, and boy to boy with her peers. She also becomes somewhat involved with her coach (Franco), in a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction moment, but like most of the film, this thread is never truly resolved or tied up. Palo Alto is directed by Gia Coppola, in her debut, and the film has a sheen of hipster sensibility similar to her aunt Sofia’s work. However, Gia fails to place a sense of suspense to keep it all together or moving forward. The one area in which she gets it right is when it comes to the character of Emily (the talented Zoe Levin, also viewable in Beneath the Harvest Sky), who shows us what it’s really like for the resident ‘high school slut’. The tenderness and vulnerability found behind Emily’s closed doors is arresting. Even though Emma Roberts is very good at acting young and (seemingly) innocent, one can only wonder what this film would have been like had it centered about Zoe.

On the other side of the coin, we have the two best films at the festival, each detailing (in starkly different ways) people deeply engaged by their surroundings. In one of the most moving and well-put-together documentaries in recent history, Tomorrow We Disappear presents the incredible colony of Kathputli, India, an artist commune on the outskirts of Delhi where children are literally born into the arts. As they are raised, they are not only taught the art of puppeteering, or street magic, or contortionism; these kids are also always encouraged to learn, and be curious, and experience and grow. Their elders—all artists themselves—do not teach them about fear, or rejection, or the struggles of the ‘real world’. Their world is the arts, and without the fears and reservations that so often come with an artistic lifestyle in the western world, the residents of Kathputli grow to become breathtakingly talented performers and artists. While at times the film might feel just a touch whitewashed (their village is ostensibly a slum, but no one appears to be starving or involved in any outwardly nefarious activities), Tomorrow We Disappear chronicles the town’s struggle to survive when urban developers from Delhi inevitably come to reclaim the land in order to make a mall and apartment complex. Masterfully presenting a town’s philosophy and way of life, it’s hard not to be completely swept up in the film’s energy of fearless and unrestrained expression that these young adult artists all share.

Lastly we have the feel-good and smart Life Partners. Starring that Gossip Girl herself, Leighton Meester shows some true chops here as Sasha, a spunky young lesbian who is deeply connected to her childhood best friend Paige (an equally cute and gifted Gillian Jacobs, of Community). This film could in fact be a holdover from the romance section, because it chronicles a close and intimate friendship that becomes compromised when one friend falls in love with someone outside their little world. All the elements work well here, as does the chemistry amongst all the characters: Paige’s courtship with Tim (Adam Brody) is just as electric and fun to watch as the scenes with the girls. Armed with a fresh and fun script (a highlight is when a 29 year old reflects on what it was like to be 21, with intended gravitas), rock-n-roll feel and a bevvy of strong supporting performances, Life Partners will be a guaranteed good time when it eventually comes out in theaters.