Danielle Solzman
Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, Mid90s, takes us back to the middle of the 1990s with a look at life for one teenager’s summer in LA.
Stevie (Sunny Suljic) lives with his older, abusive brother Ian (Lucas Hedges, appearing in 3 films at TIFF), and single mom, Dabney (Katherine Waterston). Stevie’s world opens up when he discovers a skate shop.
While I realize that the film takes place during the mid-90s, the frequent use of slurs seem to be a bit too much. It’s not only that but you have someone like Reuben (Gio Galicia) telling Stevie that saying “thank you” means you’re gay. Sure, another skater, Ray (Na-kel Smith), tells Stevie that Reuben is wrong but it’s all a bit much for my tastes.
I’m a fan of Jonah Hill’s acting work so I went into Mid90s wanting to like the film. It didn’t take long in the theater before realizing that it would not be a pleasant experience. Try going through elementary and middle school–when the film takes place–while constantly being teased with the F word. I get that Hill is trying to depict this skater life in LA but it doesn’t make these words any less hurtful.
Mid90s won’t be for everyone.
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Jonah Hill
CAST: Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin, Alexa Demie, Olan Prenatt, and Katherine Waterston
