Written and Directed by: Jonah Hill 

Jonah Hill’s first foray into writing and directing is mid90s, a period, coming-of-age piece set in the aforementioned decade and has a surprisingly sweet centre despite many of its characters superficial concerns. The story is centered around teenager Stevie (Sunny Suljic) who decides to become a skater after seeing some ‘cooler’ kids doing it, in an example of instantaneous decision-making only teenagers can manage.  These kids comprise the wise leader Ray, obnoxious Fuckshit, poor Fourth Grade and the groups previous young’un Ruben. The four spend their time skating, drinking, talking about sex and swearing profusely. The dialogue is often funny, and Hill writes the cosmological arrogance of youth well; ‘I’m so much older than you. I drink. I smoke. I fuck bitches.’ 

Mid90s narrative is fairly loose, and we follow the group over several weeks as Stevie becomes initiated in the usual rites of being a teenager, whether using drugs for the first time or his first sexual experience. Hill is a very neutral director and there isn’t, with a couple of exceptions, much stylistic flair. The use of 16:9 framing is humorous and is one of many, many cultural references that pepper the film. There is a particularly gorgeous long-shot, as the group skate down the middle of freeway, the blurred light and focus makes for a woozy, hypnotic frame.  

But the film is lacking any sort of idiosyncrasy. The film treads the familiar plot beats of the coming-of-age film and is not particularly ground-breaking, or even sand-breaking. Katherine Waterston as Stevie’s mother Daubney is criminally underused, and he endless capacity for real humanity shines through in the few scenes she is in.  

As writing and directorial debut, mid90’s offers some proof that Jonah Hill does have a future outside of the acting game. The film’s ending, which involves an interestingly constructed car crash scene, and the way in which the group react with desperate despair at how their actions have landed a 14-year-old in such awful circumstances, suggests a real and intuitive emotional touch.  

7/10