Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Sunny Suljic | ... | Stevie | |
Katherine Waterston | ... | Dabney | |
Lucas Hedges | ... | Ian | |
Na-kel Smith | ... | Ray | |
Olan Prenatt | ... | Fuckshit | |
Gio Galicia | ... | Ruben | |
Ryder McLaughlin | ... | Fourth Grade | |
Alexa Demie | ... | Estee | |
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Fig Camila Abner | ... | Angela |
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Liana Perlich | ... | Teresa |
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Ama Elsesser | ... | Zoe |
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Judah Estrella Borunda | ... | Sam |
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Mecca Allen | ... | Sara |
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Aramis Hudson | ... | Skate Shop Customer |
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Sonny Greenback | ... | 5-0 Kid |
This movie follows a teenager named Stevie growing up in Los Angeles. He's struggling with his family, including his co-dependent single mom and his abusive older brother, and at school, where his richer friends seem to overlook him. When Stevie befriends a crew of skateboarders, he learns some tough lessons about class, race, and privilege. Written by Polly_Kat
When I first saw the trailer for this movie months back it was hard to not see some similarities from Larry Clark's teenage slice of life movies from the late 90s and early 2000s. Once I saw the movie I was pleased to see while some parts may be influenced by Clark, the Mid 90s stands on its own as true winner.
Much like Clark did, Hill has brought in some kids who have no acting experience here to play Stevie's crew. They all really knock it out of the park and add to the sense of realism. The film is short and sweet setting up the main points quickly and then taking some great turns, some of which are a bit dark. I was a big fan of Lucas Hedge's character and how the dynamic of him and Stevie plays out. The soundtrack also is really quite amazing and adds a lot to the film in some scenes. Also Mid 90's may have the best jump scare of the year!
Some people may complain that while the film does have good characters, setting and so on, it lacks a standard plot. While this is true I'd argue that it sets out to tell the story of Stevie in a realistic fashion and gets the job done. While Mid 90s does have some shortcomings like some cliches and some heavy predictability, I didn't feel like they hindered the film much. A strong 8/10.