Film

mid90s

Name: mid90s
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: 2018
Cast: Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt

Jonah Hill's directorial debut is a loose, lived-in coming-of-age film following scrappy 13-year-old Stevie as he escapes a rough home life for a new crew of older skate-shop friends over one LA summer. Shot on grainy 16mm with a stacked needle-drop soundtrack, it's tender and funny but doesn't flinch from real danger — a hangout movie with teeth, best for anyone nostalgic for reckless teenage friendship.

TMDb rating

7.5

If you liked this

Kids1995

This is the film mid90s is in direct conversation with — Larry Clark's raw, real-skater aesthetic and unflinching look at teenage recklessness practically invented the genre Jonah Hill is riffing on.

But Far more explicit and nihilistic, with genuine shock value that mid90s carefully avoids; not for the squeamish.

Dazed and Confused1993

Richard Linklater's hangout classic nails the same feeling of a long summer day stretching into legend, just one decade and one coast earlier, with a killer soundtrack doing similar emotional work.

But Less angst, more affectionate haze — if you wanted mid90s's darker family stuff, this one stays sunnier throughout.

Eighth Grade2018

Same year, same tender eye for the specific humiliations of being thirteen, just filtered through a girl's phone screen instead of a skateboard — Bo Burnham's debut is just as generous to its kid.

But Anxiety over social media might already feel dated, and it's gentler, less physically dangerous than Stevie's world.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Dogtown and Z-Boys2002

This is the real history mid90s is nostalgic for — the actual Zephyr team whose outsider ethos and rebellious style created the culture Stevie is desperate to belong to decades later.

Told through vintage footage and interviews with the actual skaters, it's a scrappy, exhilarating record of how a Venice Beach crew invented modern skateboarding out of empty swimming pools and boredom.

But No narrative arc or actors to attach to — it's a documentary built from archival footage and talking heads, a different rhythm entirely.

The Florida Project2017

Another kid's-eye view of a precarious home life, shot with the same loose, sun-bleached warmth, finding joy and danger tangled together in a summer that never seems to end.

But Slower and more meandering, and its ending lands a gut-punch that mid90s never quite risks.

Lords of Dogtown2005no page yet

The glossier studio version of the same skate-crew-as-family myth, tracing the actual Zephyr team's rise — big soundtrack, real tricks, unabashed nostalgia for a scene mid90s is quietly mourning.

But More polished and plot-driven, with a clear underdogs-to-fame arc that trades intimacy for spectacle.

Moonlight2016

A different city, a different kind of danger, but the same aching portrait of a boy assembling an identity from scraps of found family while home offers little safety.

But Far more formally restrained and emotionally devastating — this isn't a hangout movie, it's a quiet gut-wrench.

American Honey2016

Swap skateboards for a magazine-selling road crew and you get the same wayward-teens-as-tribe energy, shot with a similarly loose, documentary-style intimacy and a great ear for music.

But Nearly three hours long and much more sprawling — a real commitment compared to mid90s's tight economy.

Boyhood2014

Linklater's twelve-years-in-the-making experiment gives you the fuller arc of growing up messy and unglamorous that mid90s compresses into one summer — same tenderness, a much longer runway.

But The scope is enormous and the pace deliberately unhurried; it's a very different kind of watch.

Wassup Rockers2005no page yet

Larry Clark again, this time following LA Latino skater kids with real affection and none of Kids' shock tactics — a scrappier, lower-budget cousin to mid90s's world.

But Rougher production values and uneven performances; clearly a smaller, less polished film.

Rebel Without a Cause1955

Decades before skateboards, this is the same story in the same city — a lost teenage boy, an absent or broken parent, and a surrogate family of misfits filling the void.

James Dean's aching, iconic performance as a directionless teen looking for belonging anywhere but home shows this exact story is nearly as old as the movies themselves.

But Black-and-white, stagier dialogue, and 1950s pacing will feel like a genuine leap backward for anyone used to modern naturalism.

City of God2002

Push the found-family-of-kids-raising-themselves idea to its extreme: the same younger boy pulled into an older, wilder crew, but the stakes are life and death, not skinned knees.

A blistering, kinetic Brazilian classic following kids forming loyalties and hierarchies in Rio's favelas — it shows how universal this story of childhood forged in a dangerous crew really is.

But Vastly more violent and bleak, subtitled, and offers none of mid90s's warmth or hope by comparison.