Kids in Love
By S. Jhoanna Robledo,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Flat coming-of-age film has cursing, sex.
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Kids in Love
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What's the Story?
In KIDS IN LOVE, Jack (Will Poulter) is fresh out of high school and not sure how to fill a gap year before starting college. His best friend Tom has invited him to travel through South America, while his dad has arranged an internship at a top law firm. But after a chance encounter with the beguiling Evelyn (Alma Jodorowsky), Jack is whisked into an underground London arts scene filled with all-day-and-all-night parties and other young people (including Cara Delevingne in a small role) who don't seem to have their future planned out, and don't seem to care.
Is It Any Good?
As a London travelogue of sorts, this movie is fun to watch, but don't expect to be enamored. The kids' free-spirited lifestyle, so appealing to Jack at first, looks fun and exciting from the outside, but once he's swept up in the nonstop party, it becomes more obvious that the characters are shallow and not all that interesting -- not to the audience and eventually not to him either. Director Chris Foggin is trying to paint a picture of youth in rebellion, but he's mostly successful in showing us a group of kids with too much time on their hands and not much ambition. Few of them seem to have any way to support themselves, or any interest in much besides finding the next event. Kids in Love is not so much a counter-culture, as a look at rich kids that are all a bit too pleased with themselves. Poulter brings some charisma to the screen, and his position as the outsider in the group serves as a proxy for the viewer, but it takes him longer than us to figure out that his new friends are mostly self-entitled drips.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what life is like post-graduation: Do Jack's fears and feelings in Kids in Love seem realistic? How is this film different from, or similar to, other coming-of-age movies?
What is it about Evelyn and her friends that's so appealing to Jack? Having declared himself an "adult," able to make his own decisions, why is he so curious about their lifestyle?
How do Jack's new friends differ from his old group of friends from school? What does his decision to spend time with a new group of people say about what he's choosing to do with his life, at least for now?
Movie Details
- In theaters: August 26, 2016
- On DVD or streaming: August 26, 2016
- Cast: Will Poulter, Cara Delevingne, Alma Jodorowsky
- Director: Chris Foggin
- Inclusion Information: Pansexual actors, Queer actors
- Studio: Ealing Studios
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Friendship
- Run time: 87 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: November 25, 2022
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