Kids

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Kids

1995

1h 31m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

47%

Tomatometer

57 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Amoral teen Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) has made it his goal to sleep with as many virgin girls as possible -- but he doesn't tell them that he's HIV positive. While on the hunt for his latest conquest, Telly and his best friend, Casper (Justin Pierce), smoke pot and steal from shops around New York. Meanwhile, Jenny (Chloë Sevigny), one of Telly's early victims, makes it her mission to save other girls from him. But before she has a chance to confront him at a party, everything goes horribly wrong.

Critics Consensus

Kids isn't afraid to test viewers' limits, but the point of its nearly non-stop provocation is likely to be lost in all the repellent characters and unpleasant imagery.

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Lisa Jervis

Bitch Media

12/17/2020

The parallel seductions serve to show the audience that male sexuality is predatory and female sexuality is passive and victim-based.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

02/16/2018

Kids is stunningly anti-erotic, though not untainted by sensationalism. By condensing all this inflammatory material into a 24-hour time frame, Clark and Harmony Korine create an overwrought narrative that's sometimes tedious in its relentlesshess.

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Janet Maslin

New York Times

05/20/2003

4/5

Frightening, frank and serious, a wake-up call to the world.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Common Sense Media

05/18/2024

4/5

This savagely controversial, deeply brutal movie, the debut of many notable talents, was notorious in its day and still is. 'Kids' is definitely not for "kids," but it's an unsettlingly effective cautionary tale.

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Sheila Reid

Women in the Life

05/13/2022

[Kids'] rough, in-your-face approach to exposing the perils of teenage promiscuity teaches a harsh lesson.

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Jas Keimig

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

12/09/2021

The film's lack of thesis and use of realistic sex/rape scenes provides no medicine to the wound it gives the viewers, offering nothing interesting to declare about the problems it presents to us. Instead it only sticks the knife in deeper.

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Trevor B

@TrevBills Apr 14

My introduction to indie film!

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James K

@Jamesdkman Mar 20

I don't particularly like this film, especially since I've heard it being considered a representation of the 90s. It's a pretty good reflection of urban youth at any point in modern history, but outside of having concepts relavant to the time... the film never truly feels like the 1990s. It's a pretty pointless movie that's trying to teach you something, but the film is too distracting in its execution to do so. A lot of the scenes in this slop felt like they were there for the sole purpose of being edgy and controversial, and it does acheive this... but again... all of this negates any meaningful message the film was trying to convey. It's just a raunchy teen film that uses actual teens, and got away with it.

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Sam P

@laniakea Mar 12

I didn't watch this until yesterday. I'd heard about it but never had a desire to watch it until I saw it suggested by Amazon and honestly it's like watching a train wreck. It's a film so busy patting itself on the back for being brave and transgressive that nobody stopped to ask whether it should have been made at all. If it was a fly on the wall documentary it would be insightful, but as fiction it's pointless and the wooden 'acting' makes it all very cringeworthy. Seems to have been trying really hard to be Warhol-esque but was 30 years too late. I wasn't shocked by any of it as I remember being young in the 80s and 90s. I was more shocked that it got mainstream distribution as it seems to be more interested in gratuitous lingering shots of pubescent bodies and sexuality than in saying anything meaningful or insightful.

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Amber O

@RT79129889 Jul 22

This film is essential viewing for any teenager. It offers an unfiltered and authentic portrayal of real-life challenges.

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Denver S

@Denverino Jul 13

If your friends don’t like this movie, they’re weak.

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Wolverine P

@RT32384172 07/10/2025

I watched this movie at a very young age and it has stuck with me, it is truly a great movie and very sobering

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Larry Clark

Director

Leo Fitzpatrick

Telly

Justin Pierce

Casper

Chloë Sevigny

Jennie

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Synopsis

Amoral teen Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) has made it his goal to sleep with as many virgin girls as possible -- but he doesn't tell them that he's HIV positive. While on the hunt for his latest conquest, Telly and his best friend, Casper (Justin Pierce), smoke pot and steal from shops around New York. Meanwhile, Jenny (Chloë Sevigny), one of Telly's early victims, makes it her mission to save other girls from him. But before she has a chance to confront him at a party, everything goes horribly wrong.

Director: Larry Clark
Producer: Cary Woods
Screenwriter: Harmony Korine, Jim Lewis, Larry Clark
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax Films, Independent Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 28, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 28, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $5.4M
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Stereo