‘Mid90s’ Is Ode to Skateboarding and Growing Up

Jonah Hill’s marks his directorial debut with an ode to skate culture, a cinematic love letter to the symbiotic relationship between skateboarding and the human condition. Yet, the narrative also delves into finding a surrogate family when ones blood relatives are emotionally absent. Thirteen-year-old Stevie (Sunny Suljic) escapes his dysfunctional home by hitting the streets of Los Angeles with his skateboard in hand. There he finds solace and camaraderie with a group of young skaters — Ruben (Gio Galicia), Ray (Na-kel Smith), Fuckshit (Olan Prenatt), and Fourth Grade (Ryder McLaughlin). Stevie isn’t very good at skateboarding but repeatedly puts himself in danger attempting tricks to feel something via physical pain. Hill cast actual skateboarders, rather than seasoned actors, to play the main characters in the film, and thanks to his great attention to detail, the film bubbles over with nostalgic moments of the ’90s when skateboarding was truly taking off.