Given the ingredients of the film, we have high hopes for Jonah Hill’s directorial debut. And from the early reports, it looks like we’re not going to be disappointed. From Variety to Slap, the critics have spoken; and mid90s has been receiving rave reviews for its accurate portrayal of teen angst set against the backdrop of ‘90s Los Angeles skate culture. The film debuted last night at the Toronto Film Festival. Thus far, we have not found one negative comment from those that were in attendance. The below quote from Variety’s review tells us all that we need to know.
If Jonah Hill’s name weren’t on “mid90s,” it could pass as one of the coolest films that ever played at Sundance. But the fact that a star like Hill built this movie from the ground up, and did it with so much integrity and flair, lends it an undeniable hipster quotient. You can hear a distant echo of Hill’s own wit in some of the film’s existential stoner absurdism — the lines that are funny because they aren’t meant to be. However much it is (or isn’t) based on Hill’s life, “mid90s” feels like a memoir. The soundtrack thrives on its cred, but when Stevie and his friends cruise on their boards down a twilight L.A. boulevard, viewed in telephoto long shot, to the sounds of “Dedicated to the One I Love” or the best Morrissey performance I’d never heard, you can feel a twinge of romanticism. That’s what growing up is all about: knowing that whoever you were hanging out with, they were the shit, because they showed you what was real.
mid90s opens in theaters on October 19.
UPDATE 9.14.18: We swapped out The Hollywood Reporter’s interview with Hill and Sunny Suljic with IMDB’s interview that also includes Na-Kel Smith and Olan Prenatt. Have a look above.