River's Edge is a 1986 American crime drama film directed by Tim Hunter, written by Neal Jimenez, and starring Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye Leitch in her film debut, Daniel Roebuck and Dennis Hopper.

It follows a group of teenagers in a Northern California town who are forced to deal with their friend's murder of his girlfriend and the subsequent disposal of her body.

"[5] The film has an original score by Jürgen Knieper, as well as a soundtrack featuring songs from various punk and metal bands, including Slayer, Fates Warning, Agent Orange, and the Wipers.

In Northern California, as pre-teen Tim throws his sister's doll into a river, he sees a teenager, John, smoking on the other side, next to the naked corpse of his girlfriend Jamie.

Shortly after, Tim is playing an arcade game at a convenience store where he sees John being refused the sale of beer.

John leaves the store and when he goes to start his car he notices Tim has placed the beer cans on his front seat.

Matt's friend Layne arrives, and the two drive to meet Feck, a disturbed ex-biker and drug dealer, for marijuana.

Tim and Moko break into Feck's house looking for a gun, but instead find his marijuana, which they use to get stoned and pass out.

Matt and Clarissa talk in the park, where they discuss their conflicting feelings of grief and apathy over Jamie's murder.

Matt, Clarissa, Tony, and Maggie attend Jamie's funeral, where they show emotion at seeing her for the last time.

River's Edge has the disturbing quality of a collective fear—the cherished, eagerly awaited adolescence is presented as confusing and vacuous.

Unlike most 1980s teenage sex comedies, this film doesn't glamorize youth, instead depicting it as a bleak, aimless coming of age, a time of boredom, stupor, and waste.

"[4] But Levy writes that the film does share with its peers the manner in which it presents adult figures as "irresponsible and indifferent.

"[6] While the screenplay is fiction, it draws from the November 3, 1981, murder of Marcy Renee Conrad, who was raped and strangled by Anthony Jacques Broussard in Milpitas, California.

[3] Producer Midge Sanford recalled: "Hemdale were a small company that made some very good movies, like Salvador and Hoosiers.

"[3] Corey Haim was cast as Tim, but had to be replaced by Joshua John Miller after developing pneumonia during the first several days of filming.

[3] The crew arrived to shoot scenes along the American River, but were forced to leave due to a major flood.

[11] It holds an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 42 reviews with the consensus: "A harrowing tale of aimless youth, River's Edge generates considerable tension and urgency thanks to strong performances from a stellar cast including Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves and Ione Skye.

"[15] Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a contemporary horror story about teen-agers, but it contains no slasher scenes or serial homicides.

"[16] The New York Times's Janet Maslin called it "bitter and disturbing" and deemed the performances "natural and credible.

"[18] David Ansen of Newsweek called the film "the scariest vision of youth since the alarming Brazilian movie Pixote... River's Edge pitches the audience inside this nightmare world of affectless middle-class kids and lets us watch them wallow their way through moral dilemmas they can only half articulate.

"[21] The film's soundtrack, released in 1987 by Enigma Records, features various thrash metal, punk, and a reggae track.