Mid90s

Actor, writer, producer Jonah Hill (Superbad, Moneyball, The Wolf of Wall Street) makes his directorial début with Mid90s, a coming-of-age drama set in the LA skateboarding scene of the mid 1990’s. Thirteen year-old Sunny Suljic (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The House with a Clock in Its Walls) plays Stevie, a thirteen year-old kid living with his young single mom played by Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Steve Jobs, Alien: Covenant) and his bully of an older brother played by Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea, Lady Bird, Boy Erased). Small for his size but use to taking abuse and punishment, Stevie is drawn to skatepunk culture, where one has to take painful hits repeatedly in order to develop skills. When he hooks up with a bunch of amateur skaters (played by professional skateboarders Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, and Gio Galicia), Stevie works hard to gain their acceptance, at first acting like the little mascot of the group and quickly proving himself a peer when they discover how tough he is.

While not autobiographical, Hill’s film feels deeply personal. He clearly grew up in this milieu and has a keen sense of its rhythms, slang, and overall vibe. The film is nostalgic without feeling reverential. Hill celebrates the era and the culture without shying away from much of what made it ugly—the brutality inflicted both internally and externally, the misogyny, the need to crush others to pump oneself up. The film never judges its characters, but it views them with a kind of paternal hindsight. What little narrative line it conforms to has more in common with Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993) Barry Levinson’s Diner (1983) or even George Lucas’s American Graffiti (1973) than to Larry Clarks Kids (1995). It’s telling that Kids screenwriter, and ‘90s era skatepunk, Harmony Korine makes a cameo in Mid90’s.  Hill’s film has the feel of a Harmony Korine picture (like Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, or even Spring Breakers) but told through the lens of someone who has been working in mainstream Hollywood for the past sixteen years. Where Korine’s work is nihilistic, Hill creates an optimistic arc where his young protagonist learns, adapts, and comes into himself. We never worry that Stevie is going to end up dead at 28 from a fight, a drug overdoes, or an STD. That’s not a failing of the film, its just indicative of the perspective of its author.

Mid90s lives and dies by the lead performance from Suljic. A skilled skater himself and an experienced child actor, he brings a striking authenticity and dynamic screen presence to the film; raising the bar for both the first time actors playing his peers and the seasoned pros playing his family. His naturalistic ease combine with Hill’s dedication to recreating the period with make this a worthy picture.