Mid90s gave me my first twinge of what Baby Boomers must have felt watching Thirtysomething and the 800 other shows like it. The ability for fiction to take us back into time to a point in our youth wrecked my brain. I was expecting a film that relied on nostalgia and a Spotify perfect soundtrack to put you back in a certain time. However, this film gets the atmosphere so perfectly. This is a time before cell phones just exploded. It was a time where the freedom of the 80s and before was still permeating kid culture.
Jonah Hill surprised me with his directing effort. The trailers made it seem like it wanted to tweak on Korine and Clark. The catch is that this film is far more heartfelt about its subject matter. Hell, there’s a scene with the main kid and a hairbrush that blew my mind. Kids and abuse rarely get seen on camera anymore. However, this is about self-directed abuse to make a young man reach a certain level of cool.
Skate culture has been idolized for so long that it seems like the kids killing themselves to keep get overlooked. Yeah, I get it’s a standard coming-of-age movie about the struggle. Still, it’s touching. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a movie this touching.
Mid90s has gone wide as of Oct 26th.
