Harmony Korine (writing) and Larry Clark (directing) joined forces in their first cinematic incursion in this great raw, dirty and realistic piece of filmmaking that looks splendidly into the lives of a bunch of street kids, solidly played by a very young and amateur ensemble, while they spend their day having sex, drinking, committing petty thefts, having drugs, and getting into fights.

Telly’s (Leo Fitzpatrick) only driving force in life is having sex as much as possible, especially with younger and virginal girls. In-between girl and girl, he spends his days up to no good going around New York with his best friend Casper (Justin Pierce). Little does he know that Jennie (Chloë Sevigny), one of his previous sexual partners, is looking for him with some important news.

Instigated by Larry Clark, an 18-year-old Harmony Korine wrote this script based on his personal experiences (the only element that Clark as of him to add is the AIDS subplot to it). That might be the reason why the result feels so much naturalistic, as well as fresh in comparison to the usual portrayal of teenagers by Hollywood which would usually be in either a high-school or a gang setting. It obviously feels like its thread is more connected to those gang types of movies (such as The Warriors, The Wanderers, The Outsiders), but in this case its contents feel less filtered and adulterated. The language (completely foul), the topics of discussion (sex and drug use), as well as their actions and attitudes (misogynistic, homophobic, and physically violent) capture a type of youth that had never been presented in film. It could be debatable the extent to which what we see on the screen is completely real or somewhat dramatized, as well as its translation to current times (which may have some differences), but regardless of that it provides for a both extremely interesting and entertaining watch. It also plays in favour of that how well the AIDS issue is inserted into the plot, keeping it with a low profile throughout the film favouring other elements (such as the way of living of the kids) but imperceptibly growing up in importance until generating a rather engaging suspense as we get close to the end.

The raw writing from Korine is perfectly coupled by a similar style from Clark in the filmmaking department. Most probably influenced by his long career in street photography, the feel of the images is dirty and gritty, differentiating it even more from the aforementioned type of gang films, as they might have slightly touched into more taboo subjects but always kept a clean and professional look. Nevertheless, this prior experience in photography also has its negative effect when talking about movement and camera operation. The movie visually thrives when relying on still shots contrary to when either the camera moves or the object in front of it moves frantically, as it becomes rather unclear and shaky imagery.

But nothing would be the same, neither writing nor camera work, without the locations. Those are the true key to everything. The different rooms and apartments, which already show some income and life differences among characters; streets; shops; parks; swimming pools; clubs. They could not have been better selected. I ignore if those were already defined in script by Korine based on his day-to-day life, or if it was Clark’s eyes, or even if they were selected at convenience, but the fact is that either way their combination with the stories and the cast could not be any better.

Talking about the cast, it is also worth noting the remarkable work by the young and amateur actors that form the full ensemble of kids. Overall, everyone delivers a solid performance, you can obviously perceive the childish embarrassment by some of the youngest members in the cast when talking about certain topics as a few of their giggles and uncomfortable looks seem true and genuine but, in any case, it actually makes the film feel even more natural. The two performances that surpass the rest are those of Justin Pierce as the erratic, drunk and wild Casper and Rosario Dawson as the care-free but also slightly self-conscious Ruby (Jennie’s closest friend). When it comes to Leo Fitzpatrick, his leading performance as Telly is a bit on the brink as he is actually his best in the quieter and more sensible (although truly Machiavellian and selfish) moments while he seems quite over-the-top when he is supposed to be his true braggadocious self.

At the end of the day, Kids is simply put: a great film. It is understandable that audiences at the time were quite shocked by its content and presentation, even nowadays the most puritan people could feel violated by it. But the truth is that probably most of the audiences nowadays would feel less attacked by it. Nonetheless, I would still consider this film as way more rule-breaking and braver than most of the contemporary representations of teenage sex and drug use which is somehow “glittered”. The discourse in this movie, even if encapsulated to a certain period in time, is still fitting and its original presentation is still punchy which makes it as time-relevant as it also is enjoyable to watch.