Skating is full of pain and joy, much like how “Mid90s” unfolds. It will rock you to your core.
Skateboarding is all about putting ideas into action, no matter what it takes to realize that vision. Pain is an inevitable byproduct of a skater’s ambition, but once that trick is nailed, a blissful feeling can overtake you. 13-year-old Stevie’s (Sunny Suljic) reasons for picking up a board is something even more universal: he is searching for a sense of place and identity he can call his. A true home.
During our teenager years, we often experience those wobbly moments where we find ourselves at a crossroads where we don’t know what to do in our lives. Subject to his brother’s (Lucas Hedges) violent whims, Sunny’s life is frankly awful and lonely. But luckily, a local skate shop and its delinquent employees take him under their wing. A friendship quickly blossoms, and soon enough, we find Sunny brought along on the boys’ messy escapades: hopping fences, skating gaps, smoking weed.
As Sunny gets caught up in his own hedonistic euphoria, Jonah Hill’s film becomes more than just an entertainment nostalgia flick— it becomes a riveting, nail-biting, utterly delighting story worthy of being called a virtuous debut.
We screened the film at the 2018 New York Film Festival.
