Kids Movie Review

Kids (1995)

Kids - Children are bad.

Written by: Harmony Korine
Directed by: Larry Clark
Starring:  Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, Rosario Dawson
Rated: --/R

Plot
A dark look at the day in the life of New York city teenagers as they smoke, drink, and screw.

Verdict
Kids are evil. They're just as nefarious as adults, and it's a chilling truth depicting what children do when unsupervised. It was and is a landmark film, dispelling any disillusions, but it's bleak and depressing. Similar to any good documentary, it uncovers a truth, but it might make your squirm. The subject matter, tied with the unlikable characters, isn't for everyone.
It depends.

Review
Where are you children? That's the question someone needs to ask the parents in this movie. Only Telly's mom is depicted, and she is completely disinterested, busy with another child.

Despite the improvised feeling of many scenes, this movie adheres closely to Korine's script. Most of the actors were children without any formal training, and Larry Clark does an amazing job getting the performances for the characters.

The characters are unlikable from the start, being completely selfish. Telly brags to Casper about his latest conquest. A conquest we just saw as he lies and manipulates a girl into sleeping with him. Through them, we get an insight into the true lives of teens that is raunchier than ever expected. I can't vouch for how realistic this is, but many people are willing to do so. I don't find it shocking or surprising. It's grim, but it almost feels like a hidden camera delving into this world that I'd rather avoid.
Teenagers think about sex all the time. That we know, but these teens act on it. It's a rude awakening to parents that their precious little babies, may not be all that precious. Ruby and Jennie get tested, and despite only having one partner, Jennie is HIV positive. Throughout the movie she's dealing with how her life is about to change while trying to track down her one partner, Telly. Telly is a predator, only seeking out virgins and coercing them into sex. He's despicable and unapologetic, while Jennie is completely helpless and in an impossible situation.

I doubt everything could happen in just a single day, maybe over a summer, but the compaction of events is necessary for pacing. This movie hits hard.

As Telly chases a new girl, we learn that he must be HIV positive, having likely infected a girl at the beginning of the movie, and on his way to infecting another. The ending brings everything together in the worst possible way. Casper sexually assaults Jennie while she's passed out at a party. As terrible as that is, this movie puts you in the position of wanting him to pay for his misdeeds and having to decide if contracting HIV is too harsh.

This kind of subject matter is not completely foreign to a movie, but when you make the ages of the main characters this young, it's unsettling to imagine what's really happening. This script is based on kids Korine knew, and he wrote this when he was only eighteen.