Skate Kitchen (2018)

Directed by: Crystal Moselle | 107 minutes | drama | Actors: Rachelle Vinberg, Jaden Smith, Dede Lovelace, Nina Moran, Kabrina Adams, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Emmanuel Barco, Tom Bruno, Alexander Cooper, Thaddeus Daniels, Kobi Frumer, Taylor Gray, Nico Hiraga, Alex Kramer, Judah Lang, Brenn Lorenzo, Jules Lorenzo, Malachi Omega, John Palumbo, Dylan Pitanza, Ajani Russell, Tashiana Washington

Camille, almost 18, lives in a house on Long Island with her mother. You can’t tell that Camille is Latina; she looks like an immature college girl, with big glasses, limbs that are way too long and inconspicuous clothes. She is shy and modest until she gets on her skateboard. Then the energy splashes off and she pulls out nice tricks, tricks that regularly cause her to bruise. Or worse, like when she’s credited after a wrong jump (google it at your own risk).

Camille is a rather lonely type, unwillingly, so her interest is piqued when she discovers the girls from the Skate Kitchen on Instagram. These meet in New York City, where they skateboard, hang out, smoke weed and chill in fixed spots. The group is an ethnic mix and harbors different sexual preferences. A tolerant group where Camille can be himself.

In the skateboard drama ‘Skate Kitchen’ we follow the group of friends and we see how Camille changes from a wispy post-adolescent to a wispy young woman. And of course we see a lot, a lot of skateboarding action. It’s nice and energetic and (sometimes) spectacular, although you shouldn’t be allergic to the style and slang of this subculture. In terms of drama, nothing special happens: running away from home, girl stuff, bullshit with boys, girl stuff about those guys, boring side jobs, attempts at sex.

The lack of a real plot is not a loss. What the film shows is a place where you can hide for a while from a demanding outside world. What the girls do for a living or for their studies, we don’t hear and it doesn’t matter. Just like many young people take a gap year to recharge and relax, the members of the Skate Kitchen get their energy and relaxation from their skateboards and each other’s company.

Because the protagonists are all skateboarding themselves and there is plenty of improvisation, the interaction looks very natural. With Rachelle Vinberg (Camille) as the endearing outlier, and Jaden Smith and Elizabeth Rodriguez as ‘real’ actors in important supporting roles. With its atmospheric cityscapes, relaxed chatter and quasi-documentary angularity, ‘Skate Kitchen’ seems to be the cheerful counterpart to Larry Clark’s youth classic ‘Kids’. A glimpse into a colorful subculture and a reminder of the freedom and headaches of the early years.