Modern Girls 1986

Three women in their early twenties, Margo [Daphne Zuniga], Kelly [Virginia Madsen], and Cece [Cynthia Gibb], share a Los Angeles apartment and juggle ordinary daytime gigs with a nightlife that hums with neon, temptation, and risk. Margo works in telemarketing and often finds the routine of the desk job draining; Cece gets fired from her department store job, a setback that contributes to the disarray and restless energy between them; Kelly thrives behind the counter of a pet shop, charming both customers and critters alike, a skill that somehow translates into selling herself and her dreams as well.

On a buzzing Friday night, the trio gears up for a night out in a city that never truly slows down. Kelly impulsively takes Margo’s car to chase a downtown DJ she’s smitten with, while Cece and Margo hitch a ride with Kelly’s blind date for the evening, the bookish Clifford [Clayton Rohner], one of her many devoted customers. Cliffie, as Cece affectionately calls him, tags along for a wild ride and gets an intimate, if wary, tour of how these three friends typically spend their nights—an adventure that blends camaraderie with a dash of danger.

The night intensifies when a charismatic pop figure arrives at the club: the rock star Bruno X [Clayton Rohner], a magnet for attention. Cece fights to catch his eye, and for a moment, the music and glitter seem to promise a doorway to something bigger. But a police raid abruptly cuts the moment short, forcing Cece and Margo to slip away with Clifford, leaving Kelly behind in the chaos. They repair to an after-hours goth bar, where Cece uses a hotel matchbook Bruno once carried as a clue to track him down, pushing Clifford into impersonating Bruno for a music video that unfolds on the street with a surreal energy born from improvisation and deception.

Meanwhile, back at Sharkey’s bar, Kelly sustains her flirtatious evening with Milo [Josh Richman], another DJ who offers her something more heady than a dance—drugs. When Cece, Margo, and Clifford arrive to pull Kelly back from the brink, they find her surrounded by a group of lecherous men, a tense moment that the trio defuses just in time to avert a looming danger. The rain begins to pour, and Clifford, in a moment of missed caution, closes the top of his convertible only to end up with blown tires on traffic spikes as they navigate the city’s sleeping roads. They push onward on foot along Hollywood Boulevard, wherein Clifford reveals a quiet, surprising depth—Margo’s college major in comparative literature becomes a touchstone in their evolving dynamic.

A driving-instructor by trade, Clifford manages to borrow a car from a driving school, and the group slips into Club VooDoo under the cover of his facade. Inside, the club’s electric pulse intensifies, and Kelly, buoyed by the thrill, dances with the intoxicated Clifford while Cece learns from Marsalis [Rick Overton], an acquaintance of Bruno X, that the star is obsessed with her and has been relentlessly searching for Cece since the earlier raid. Marsalis also passes along that Bruno has a 7:00 a.m. flight booked at the Santa Monica Airport, a detail that threads through the night’s mounting tension and foreshadows the morning’s choices.

A sudden food fight erupts when Clifford tries to prevent Kelly from leaving with Ray [Chris Nash], an admirer who turns a flirtation into danger. The trio and Clifford confront Ray’s aggression, and the group eventually ends up at the police station, where Kelly files a formal report about the incident. The night’s turmoil gives way to a softer, aching closeness: Clifford teases Margo, and the two share a quiet kiss, a small moment of warmth amid the chaos of getting home.

Dawn breaks as the friends drive Cece to the airport. There, she reunites with Bruno, who invites her to join him on tour. Yet Cece, moved by the bond she shares with her friends, declines, telling Bruno that she’d miss them too much. The moment crystallizes the trio’s loyalty and the bittersweet reality of their nightly escapades. As Bruno leaves, Clifford asks a lingering question about their plans for the night, and the three women respond with a playful, unspoken pledge to face whatever the morning brings—together, beyond the neon glare of Hollywood.

The film sits at the edge of glamour and grit, balancing flirtation and fear with the warmth of friendship. It captures a slice of late-night Los Angeles where dreams brush against danger, and where three young women discover that even in a city built on glitter, the real story is found in the loyalty and humor they share when the music finally fades.