Colin (Eddie O'Connell, Sexy Beast) is a brazen 19-year-old with his finger on the pulse of Soho's burgeoning art scene in late '50s London, but he is still struggling to pay his way through life. When his beautiful girlfriend Suzette (Patsy Kensit, Gold) tires of their lower class life, Colin finds it difficult to hold her affection. An older, richer man (David Bowie as unctious, superstar executive Vendice Partners) sweeps Suzette away, leaving Colin devastated, but desperate to win back her heart!

Director Julien Temple (The Filth and the Fury) and his vibrant cast create a stylish synthesis of '80s English pop with postwar bop and the seeds of Mod culture. Absolute Beginners features onscreen performances by Fine Young Cannibals, Sade, and Patsy Kensit, a Bowie production number ("Motivation"), and a wonderful sequence with the Kinks' Ray Davies.