Okay, alot of people might notice that some of my reviews will start to sound the same because it is award season and alot of films going for the awards are coming out, so you’ll probably start to hear alot of good things in my reviews and this film is no exception. “Mid90s” is the directorial debut of Jonah Hill and not only did he direct this film, he wrote it, and produced it. I was really looking forward to this film, not only because it is Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, but also because the studio behind this film is A24 and I love this studio, because about 95% of the time they put out a new film it’s really good and like I said this is no exception.
The story is about a thirteen year old named Stevie 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. “Mid90s” is a beautiful, raw, and an incredible film that I have nothing but good things to say about. So, lets get the big thing out first, the directing.
The direction by Jonah Hill is fantastic and definitely makes me excited to see what he does next, the script is great as well, and you can definitely tell that Jonah has a real understanding of the skateboarding community. The camerawork and cinematography is fantastic, this film is shot entirely in 16mm film so it has a nice grainy old style look to it and it’s also in the 4:3 aspect ratio which means the film does not fill out the entire screen and it’s just a square and I loved that because it gave it that 90s feeling even more.
The acting here is insanely good. All the kids are in the film are phenomenal, especially the main lead Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges gives another great performance to us here, and so does Katherine Waterson and the soundtrack was incredible, not only the songs in the film, but also the beautiful music here done by the always great Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
“Mid90s” is one of the best films I have seen all year and I can not wait to go see this one again, it’s one of those films that feels so real and so raw that it does not even feel like you are even watching a film, it feels like you are watching real people. I don’t even know how to skate and this film makes me want to go out and buy a skateboard, and I’m probably going to. To appreciate real great filmmaking and fantastic storytelling, I beg of you, go out and see, “Mid90s”.
