Electrick Children is a 2012 American independent coming of age film written and directed by Rebecca Thomas and starring Julia Garner, Rory Culkin, and Liam Aiken.

Rather than undergo a shotgun marriage arranged by her father, Paul, she escapes to Las Vegas, along with Mr. Will, who is sleeping in the bed of the family's pickup truck.

In Las Vegas Rachel falls in with a group of skaters who live together and play in a band, after becoming intrigued by one of the boys who wears a shirt with a cassette on it.

Remembering one of her mother's bedtime stories, she impulsively follows a red Mustang and discovers that its owner, Tim, is the man who recorded the tape, and is, in fact, her biological father.

Mr. Will returns to the community and is accepted back with a confession that Rachel has recorded on the blue cassette, although she still firmly believes that God has fathered her child.

Thomas had initially planned to recruit her friends and family to work on the film's cast and crew, but the larger budget allowed her to hire professional actors.

The site's critical consensus states, "A strong directorial debut for Rebecca Thomas, Electrick Children also features an outstanding performance from Julia Garner as a wild teenager from a conservative family.

[23] The New York Times film critic Stephen Holden described Electrick Children as "neither comedy nor drama nor satire but a surreal mélange infused with magical realism".

He criticised its lack of narrative continuity but said "the movie's underlying sweetness leaves a residual glow" and praised Garner's "radiant performance".

[25] Variety magazine's Leslie Felperin called the film "a sweet slice of indie quirk", and praised the direction and acting despite feeling that the script had been "overworked".

[26] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Lowe highlighted Thomas's direction, Mattias Troelstrup's cinematography, and the performance of Garner, whom he described as "a revelation".

[27] Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine described Thomas as "an exceptional stylist", commending her for avoiding clichés, and wrote that "Electrick Children is one of the most sensible and humane explorations of youthful curiosity and alienation I've seen in some time.