The film stars Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska, with Ryō Kase, Schuyler Fisk, and Jane Adams playing supporting roles.

Enoch does not go to school (he was expelled after a fight with a student who spoke badly about his dead parents) and has an unusual hobby—attending strangers' funerals; he also befriends the Japanese ghost of kamikaze pilot Hiroshi, whom he began to see after waking up from his coma.

[6][7] Lew and Bryce Dallas Howard were fellow drama students at New York University; she encouraged him to take his project further and agreed to be a producer on the script.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Mia Wasikowska puts in a nuanced performance but nobody else, actors and directors included, are capable of finding a compelling angle beneath the twee veneer.

[25] Critic Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 2.5/4 stars: "Wasikowska, from Alice in Wonderland to Jane Eyre, is an actress of translucent expressiveness.

"[26] Film critic James Berardinelli described Restless as "an emotionally rewarding experience: strong performances from leads Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska and a tender love story conveyed with genuine feeling".

[27] Sheri Linden of Los Angeles Times described Restless as "Director Gus Van Sant's attempt to bring an indie spirit to screenwriter Jason Lew's pedestrian romantic drama.

[...] The insistently quirky details don't disguise the fact that the drama grows ever more predictable and precious, complete with falling-in-love montage.

[29] Jake Coyle of Associated Press wrote: "Hopper, who handles humor well and has something of his father's roguishness, and Wasikowska, the fine young actress of Jane Eyre and In Treatment, are well matched.

[30] Film critic Leonard Maltin wrote: "Restless adds to my ever-growing admiration for Mia Wasikowska and provides a pleasant sense of discovery in seeing Dennis Hopper’s son acquit himself so well in a part that any actor would find challenging to put across.

"[31] Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail wrote that "Restless feels counterfeit in any scenes that deal with real matters of illness and death".

[32] Derek Malcolm of London Evening Standard wrote, "This paean to the troubles of youth has none of Van Sant's edge, which seems to have been replaced by whimsicality".