Kids

Kids is a 1995 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Larry Clark in his directorial debut and written by Harmony Korine in his screenwriting debut. It stars Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, and Rosario Dawson, all in their film debuts. Set in 1995, Fitzpatrick, Pierce, Sevigny, Dawson, and other newcomers portray a group of teenagers in New York City. They are characterized as hedonists, who engage in sexual acts and substance abuse, over the course of a single day. Ben Detrick of the New York Times has described the film as "Lord of the Flies with skateboards, nitrous oxide and hip-hop... There is no thunderous moral reckoning, only observational detachment." The film was deemed controversial upon its release in 1995 and caused public debate over its artistic merit. It received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, but was released without a rating. Critical response was mixed, and the film grossed $20.4 million on a $1.5 million budget. Plot In an encounter that starts out consensually, a 17-year-old boy named Telly roughly and painfully rapes a 12-year-old girl, despite her pleas for him to stop and be more gentle. Afterwards, Telly meets with his best friend, Casper, and they discuss his sexual experience. He vocalizes his desire to keep "having sex" with virginal girls. They then enter a local store, where Casper shoplifts a bottle of malt liquor. Looking for drugs, food, and a place to hang out, they head to their friend Paul's apartment, despite disliking him. They join the other boys in boasting about their sexual prowess and nonchalant attitudes to unprotected sex and venereal diseases. Across the city, a group of girls are talking about sex. Their attitudes contradict that of the boys on many topics, particularly fellatio and the significance of the individuals to whom they lost their virginity. Two of the girls, Ruby and Jennie, mention that they were recently tested for sexually transmitted disease: Ruby tests negative, even though she has had multiple sexual encounters, and Jennie tests positive for HIV. She tells the nurse that she has had sex only once, with Telly. Distraught, she tries to find him to prevent him from passing HIV onto another girl. Meanwhile, Telly and Casper walk to Telly's house and steal money from his mother.