past in a deliberate or explicit way to explore current issues in cultural politics". In 2015, The New Yorker film critic Richard Brody wrote that Metropolitan is about the plight of America's upper class, or what the film's characters call the "urban haute bourgeoisie", and the "possibility—the necessity—and the difficulty of breaking out of their world and connecting with the wider world, for the benefit of the wider world". Mark Henrie, editor of the book Doomed Bourgeois in Love: Essays on the Films of Whit Stillman, writes that it is a conservative film, which uses "mocking affection, gentle irony, and a blizzard of witty dialogue" to bring us "to see what is admirable and necessary in the customs and conventions of America's upper class". In 2009, National Review named it the third-best conservative film. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Metropolitan gently skewers the young socialite class with a smartly written dramedy whose unique, specific setting yields rich universal truths". The film grossed $2.9 million in the United States and Canada and $7 million worldwide. Accolades Notes References Bibliography External links Metropolitan: After the Ball, an essay by Lucy Sante at the Criterion Collection 2015 interview featuring Whit Stillman, Carolyn Farina, and Dylan Hundley regarding Metropolitan 1990 films 1990 comedy-drama films 1990 directorial debut films 1990 independent films 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American independent films Films about the upper class Films directed by Whit Stillman Films set in Manhattan Films shot in New York City New Line Cinema films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films