Dead Kids

This is one of those teen movies that seems to positively revel in and exaggerate any and all bad behavior from teenagers. While Dead Kids makes somewhat of a comment on teenage cliques, popularity, bullying, peer pressure, and the income gap between the rich and the poor, all of this often gets lost in the over-the-top bad behavior. Teens curse in practically every line of dialogue, binge-drink until they vomit, brag about alleged sexual acts, visit massage parlors to pay for sex acts. Meanwhile, the adults tend to be oblivious, homophobic, and making their living in the criminal underworld. Based on true events, the sheer nihilism of it all tends to overwhelm any potential takeaways.

The acting is very good across the board, in spite of all the gratuitous excess. It's a pitch-black thriller where the darkness and the occasional self indulgence supersedes the story. For instance, in one scene, the unpopular "Dead Kids" suddenly stand up to some of their bullies in the cafeteria, which leads to a food fight between all the students in the cafeteria. There's no real reason for this scene to be in the movie, as it doesn't really advance the story or establish anything new about the characters. The movie is full of moments like these that come off as being done just because. This excess turns what might have been a memorable and unique movie into just the latest in a decades-long series of "teen juvey" films.