Mid90s

Name: Mid90s
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: October 19, 2018
Duration: 85 min
Rating: 66
Cast: Alexa Demie, Cici Lau, Di Vinci SanTana Guthrie, Fig Camila Abner, Gio Galicia

2018

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Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critics

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Generally favorable reviews based on 63 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 63 Ratings

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Mid90s

Movie Details & Credits

A24 | Release Date: October 19, 2018

Starring: Alexa Demie, Cici Lau, Di Vinci SanTana Guthrie, Fig Camila Abner, Gio Galicia, Jax Malcolm, Jerrod Carmichael, Kasey Elise, Katherine Waterston, Lauren B. Mosley, Liana Perlich, Lucas Hedges, Margaret Newborn, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Ryder McLaughlin, Stephane Nicoli, Sunny Suljic

Summary: Mid 90s follows Stevie, a thirteen-year-old in 90s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.

Director: Jonah Hill

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 85 min

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Awards & Rankings

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Critic Reviews

Entertainment Weekly - Leah Greenblatt

Oct 10, 2018

He (Hill) makes Mid90s resonate with universal poignancy and electric energy; his kids are the best, messiest kind of real, and they’re alright. Read full review

The Hollywood Reporter - John DeFore

Sep 11, 2018

A gender-flipped sibling to Crystal Moselle's Skate Kitchen (set in Los Angeles versus that film's NYC), its narrative of sudden belonging and onrushing perils mirrors that Sundance entry. But in emotional punch and shoulda-seen-this-coming skill, it is more like Hill's Lady Bird, a gem that feels simultaneously informed by its author's adolescence and the product of a serious artist's observational distance. Read full review

Screen International - Fionnuala Halligan

Oct 18, 2018

Whether Hill’s debut as a writer-director is drawn entirely, or partly, from personal experience seems a moot point: there’s a sufficient clear-eyed skill to the project to elevate it out of the memoir arena and mark the actor out as a directing talent to watch. Read full review

The Film Stage - Jared Mobarak

Sep 13, 2018

It’s as though Hill wrote a much longer script and decided to ultimately pare everything down without realizing just how hollow he was rendering supporting players in the process. Read full review

Movie Nation - Roger Moore

Oct 22, 2018

Mid90s becomes, in full flower, a movie with characters more interesting or unusual than its very conventional story and setting, not a bad film so much as an incomplete one. Read full review

Vanity Fair - K. Austin Collins

Nov 1, 2018

What works best about Mid90s is what’s casual about it—but what makes it verge on being genuinely original is all the weirdo stuff at the margins, which is too pronounced to be subtext and too minimally handled to really mean something to the movie. Read full review

Slant Magazine - Jake Cole

Sep 13, 2018

Jonah Hill constantly falls back on providing vague justification for his characters' behaviors, along with spoonfuls of sentiment to let the more dour moments go down easier. Read full review

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User Reviews

rooooooooo

Nov 6, 2018

It perfectly summed up what it was like to be a skater as a teenager. the soundtrack was dope, the characters felt... real. it felt like the movie kids but if it kids had been focused solely on the skaters. there are people talking about how it wasn't cohesive or that it lacked structureIt perfectly summed up what it was like to be a skater as a teenager. the soundtrack was dope, the characters felt... real. it felt like the movie kids but if it kids had been focused solely on the skaters. there are people talking about how it wasn't cohesive or that it lacked structure and... i mean.. that's kind of the point. the film is about kids who aren't worried about their future and are just skating. why would there be more of a point if that's what the premise is? the anti-climatic ending also made sense... I like that the movie didn't force some bullsh*t ending or some stupid "moral of the story" wrap-up. maybe this was just me because that was more or less my exact 15 year old experience but whatever. as far as i'm concerned it perfectly nailed every aspect of what it was like… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

GrantD243

Nov 13, 2018

Mid90s is Jonah Hill’s directorial debut and it follows a kid named Stevie, who is a kid trying to find himself while dealing with his abusive brother and not so present mother, as he ends up hanging out with a group of teenagers who skateboard. These kids all come from different situationsMid90s is Jonah Hill’s directorial debut and it follows a kid named Stevie, who is a kid trying to find himself while dealing with his abusive brother and not so present mother, as he ends up hanging out with a group of teenagers who skateboard. These kids all come from different situations (which also provides the foundation for conflict), but most of them are from lower class families, and their days primarily consist of hanging out at the skate shop, skating, and going to parties. Stevie is by far the youngest kid in the group once he joins, and most of the film he’s just trying to fit in with them and find his way. He doesn’t even know how to skate when he starts hanging out with the group, but he keeps trying until he’s at least about to skate around. He’s also constantly trying to prove himself to the other guys in the group, and sometimes it bites him in the butt. Despite this sounding like an uplifting film, in a lot of ways it is not. Stevie does find friends, but as a result he starts to fall into bad habits and does some things that a kid his age should not be doing. He’s also constantly dealing with his brother who beats him up several times, and it’s clearly affected him at deeper levels as despite him being the nicest kid around, he does punish himself in physical ways sometimes that can be hard to watch. He gains some positive things in his life but a lot of negative things as well, and so the character arc is actually quite flat when you combine everything. There is also not a specified end goal that the story is heading towards. This is more of a slice of life film that focuses on skater kids. It’s not really aiming to wrap everything up in a bow for you at the end, and that’s just fine. I enjoyed the story for what it was. It’s rather surface level, which makes sense given the hour-and-twenty-five minute runtime, but it can be looked at in a deeper sense by the viewer if he/she wants. The characters are all likable on some level, and we are given just enough backstory on each one to care for them by the end of the film. The acting is also great, given that Sunny Suljic (Stevie) is pretty young and most of the rest of the main group of characters are pro skateboarders in real life. The only iffy moment for me story-wise while viewing this film was the ending, which makes a lot of sense given how everything was going towards the end, but it felt a little…forced? I’m not sure if that’s the right word, but it’s as if Jonah Hill knew he wanted it to not necessarily have a distinct end to the characters’ story, but also wanted something to end on for the general audience’s sake. As for production, this looks like a film that was made in the mid90s. Jonah definitely was able to capture the vibe and look of the era, while not solely relying on nostalgia to draw the audience in which I am always afraid of with films like this. Overall, Mid90s is a great debut for Jonah Hill. Some people may not want to watch it because it revolves around skateboarding, but I think if they actually watch it they’ll be pleasantly surprised.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

BrianMcCritic

Jan 27, 2019

A Richard Linklater type film directed by Jonah Hill and done well. Overall a low 8 an A-.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LamontRaymond

Oct 27, 2018

I enjoyed the film, but it's not a special movie. I expected more from the mom, the brother, and really from the kid himself. It was also a little creepy seeing what looked like a 5th-grader preparing to have sex with a high school girl. Sad but true.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

TVJerry

Oct 30, 2018

Sunny Suljic plays a 13-year-old who's desperate to fit in with an older group of skaters, while escaping the bullying of his brother (Lucas Hedge effective as a tough guy). Comparisons to Larry Clark's KIDS (which was actually made in the 90s) are inevitable. Writer/director Jonah HillSunny Suljic plays a 13-year-old who's desperate to fit in with an older group of skaters, while escaping the bullying of his brother (Lucas Hedge effective as a tough guy). Comparisons to Larry Clark's KIDS (which was actually made in the 90s) are inevitable. Writer/director Jonah Hill shot this in a 4:3 ratio to mimic the video standard of that time. It has the same kind of raw style that surrounds a cast of mostly real skaters, jiving, cussing and getting high. While there's not a plot as such, things happen and Suljic creates an earnest, sweet kid in search of friendship. The skaters are completely at home being themselves (or variations). It's a rambling, but genuine and interesting first effort.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

amheretojudge

Dec 24, 2018

Growing Up And Skating Down.

Mid90s Hill's first major motion picture is a typical style over substance case. There is very less to chew on and more to run on or skate on. And being judged by his viewers with both the eyes wide open, Hill is a much more smarter and effective director thanGrowing Up And Skating Down.

Mid90s

Hill's first major motion picture is a typical style over substance case. There is very less to chew on and more to run on or skate on. And being judged by his viewers with both the eyes wide open, Hill is a much more smarter and effective director than he is a writer. This uncouth slick street is the perfect stage for its characters. But, clearly this is already something that we have experienced before. And no matter how jaggedly his vision is on mark, he could not crown them on, in his storyline decoratively. The primary reason to that is his stereotypical and undercooked characters that are misguided under the impression of crafting out the practicality in it.

There is no circle, there is no reason, there is no arc to his storytelling. And even as a series of various episodes, Hill struggling behind the camera, obscurely leaping across the narration leaves you into an uncharted territory, he is not the advisable guide to this inadequate story. Nevertheless, the ferocious pace in his narration and shorter runtime clocks your experience to a satisfactory note. His direction eerily resembles with Malick's camera work at times, and gives you a familiar neighborhood environment where we have played aplenty of times. Each character, driven by their parched two liner note can easily be evaluated within the first act.

Hill's world in here is out of control, free from any bound knowledge, it is intriguing but not competent in its own range. Aforementioned, Hill soars on executing the written words on screen; although they are not something to be replied upon in here, surprisingly the performance is a vital theme to this film. It is scripted to be relied upon the performance and milking out the best from the achieved opportunity, both the younger and older cast manages to mark a stamp on this drama.

Hitting themselves brutally in a wall or in a fist fight or falling over while practicing, the physical sequences are meant to create a long lasting awe and it does but unfortunately, it raises questions on its existence itself. Suljic, the protagonist, is a better performer than his character is, and he is the only strong character involved in this over thought out journey. In fact, his friends wins over a large margin than his family. Scraping off the nature and the sluggish memories that they are dipped into, Hill's eye on their emotions gives them an absorbing angle to project.

Waterston and Hedges, the major talents and disappointment of the film, are left untouched to feel their skin in the game. Plodding on a familiar structure, fortunately Hill doesn't thrive upon huge antics, his unswerving content, even though flat line, is something to look upon. If he fumbles on delivering a flamboyant storytelling, his knack of keeping the conversations practical and subtle is a promising element, that lifts up this so called arthouse. Hill's memories of Mid90s may be apt, but similar to it, it has both flawed and grandeur moments.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

dchipps1945

Oct 28, 2018

Everyone who's ever been a 12-year-old boy has written this story in his head. This film plays like a pre-adolescent super-fantasy, including sexual encounters with hot teenage girls, enough substance abuse to knock out a horse (with no effects whatsoever), and accidents and mishaps thatEveryone who's ever been a 12-year-old boy has written this story in his head. This film plays like a pre-adolescent super-fantasy, including sexual encounters with hot teenage girls, enough substance abuse to knock out a horse (with no effects whatsoever), and accidents and mishaps that would kill the horse and the whole posse.

I get the impression this was an old screenplay Jonah Hill wrote in film school, and he could now produce (I have no idea whether Jonah Hill went to film school). It has events without consequences (the mishaps, substance abuse, and the film's great tragic event), resolutions without understandable cause (the character-transformation of the kid's brother and the final scene between the mom and the kid's friends), and situations without explanation (Just who owns the skateboard shop? Is there such a thing as school in this kid's life? Just how old is he supposed to be, anyway?).

I expected a sort of gritty-but-realistic portrayal of this life, not some squealing little kid's wet dream.… Expand

2 of 7 users found this helpful25

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