Based on punk author Jon Savage's 2007 book Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture 1875-1945, Matt Wolf's documentary uses rare archival footage, period-piece recreations and a score by Deerhunter's Bradford Cox to depict the evolution of teen culture through a number of influential(and unconventional) subcultures — swing kids, Boy Scouts, flappers, the German Wandervogel and even Nazi Youth — that emerged from the late 19th century through the end of World War II.