Released 1995
Stars Leo Fitzpatrick, Chloë Sevigny, Justin Pierce, Sajan Bhagat
Directed by Larry Clark

The vision presented in Larry Clark's Kids is as bleak as things get -- an ugly portrait of amoral youths who resort to drugs and sex not as a form of rebellion, but to fill the void of otherwise empty and meaningless lives. Unfortunately, Kids is an accurate portrayal of how certain inner city children live out their existences. Take a look at the documentary "Teen Dreams" if you doubt how dangerously close to reality this fictional presentation comes.

On the outside, Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) is the kind of clean-cut teenage boy any mother might let her daughter go out with. He looks "normal" -- perhaps even a little nerdy -- and can be polite and sincere when it suits him. But Telly is an inveterate liar. He will say or do anything to satisfy his addiction for deflowering virgins. Sexually uninitiated girls present the greatest challenge and, as a bonus, are guaranteed disease-free. Not that he believes in AIDS anyway -- condoms, in his opinion, are a waste of time.

Kids is shot like a documentary and, in its uncompromising depiction of every aspect of the characters' social and sexual interactions, it seems almost too raw for fiction. Clark has meticulously designed this movie to blur the lines between reality and scripted story, hiring 20 year old Harmony Korine to write a screenplay that reflects what's really going on in the streets. The actors are all newcomers, and their unfamiliar faces and unpolished-yet-effective performances add to the documentary-like effect.

Kids follows the activities of a small group of teenagers over a twenty-four hour period (a little time frame cheating, by way of flashbacks, occurs). And what a twenty-four hours it is... Kids will likely shock some viewers, but even those expecting this kind of grueling expose will be disturbed by the casual manner in which the most heinous acts are carried out. If people lose their souls as children, what happens when they grow up? This is a tragedy without a last act -- a wrenching experience that offers no catharsis.

Those who call Kids exploitative may have seen the film, but they haven't bothered to really watch it. There is not a gratuitous moment in this picture, although some of the images are so strong that viewers will wish to close their eyes or turn away. Kids shows what transpires when children are set adrift in a heartless world, and warns us what happens -- and is already happening -- in the absence of love and guidance.

Summary by James Berardinelli