Kids (1995)

Director: Larry Clark
Stars: Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny
Runtime: 91 minutes

Synopsis: A day in the life of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking, and deflowering virgins.

Verdict: Similar to films such as “The Basketball Diaries” or “We Need to Talk About Kevin”, Larry Clark’s “Kids” is the sort of coming-of-age story that will shake parents to their core. Produced by Gus Van Sant and written by a 19-year-old Harmony Korine, it follows the mishaps of a group of teenagers as they are constantly making bad and dangerous decisions – some that are even difficult to watch unfold – leading them to a life of anarchy and chaos.

It’s a quite disturbing experience for sure, one that will stick with its audience for a while due to its graphic nature and general raunchy atmosphere. The latter part is what impressed me most about its technical achievements as it accurately paralleled the vulgarity of its main characters, which include Chloë Sevigny and Rosario Dawson in their acting debuts.

But I was disappointed in the film’s lack of depth and character growth. From the first minute to the last, nothing happens that changes our perspective of these teenagers. Even if it overall succeeds in starting a conversation about the consequences of unsafe sex or the influence of drugs on the youth, it does it by subjecting the audience to a rather repetitive and flat narrative that maybe would’ve worked better as a short.

I can think of many coming-of-age dramas that tackle similar topics to the ones depicted in “Kids” in a more resonant way, including the two I mentioned at the beginning of this review. It’s definitely not a bad movie at all and it succeeds at doing exactly what it was aiming to do, I just ultimately wish that it set higher goals for itself.

FINAL GRADE: 6/10