In a film calculated to cause scandal, a day in the life of a group of young,
amoral teenagers is picked not counting in relentless and crystal clear detail. Beginning to
the amplified blooming of avid kissing, we recoup Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick)
locked in employ with a barely pubescent dame (Sarah Henderson). With
soothing words he massages her ego and fears, potent her how much he cares
to go to her and how she's the only everybody. Resolving her major torment, which is that
she doesn't want a babe in arms, Telly unclasps her bra and moves take down. Of course,
regardless of his promises, it hurts like scolding when he snatches away her virginity
with his brutal thrusts. When the deed is done, Telly races away foreign to
his friend Casper (Justin Pierce) and describes in graphic detail his latest
conquest, from his self-proclaimed position of "virgin surgeon". For Telly,
virgins are finish; they're clean, receptive, reputation-boosting and,
importantly, free from STDs. Casper can solitary see eye to eye suit as they make their way to
a friends house, where the duo can score some aliment and drugs, in their own
cursing and shop-lifting fashion.

If the casual attitude towards life shown by Telly and Casper seems shocking,
things just get worse at their destination. Sitting, blissed-out, in a haze
of smoke, watching skate-boarding videos, is a group of kids just like them,
but younger. Does no one care about these immature lives going to waste?
Apparently not, as they lounge around talking about girls, sex and how women
just love to give blow-jobs. Meanwhile, across town, a mirror-image group of
girls is talking about exactly the same thing, except that they unanimously
detest giving head and the yucky taste of semen. They may only just be
teenagers but they know what they like, viewing losing their virginity
as a simple rite that must be passed on the road to sexual nirvana. When the
topic of AIDS comes up the boys dismiss it as fiction while the girls are
more worried, particularly Ruby (Rosario Dawson) and Jennie (Chloe Sevigny)
who've taken the test. The shocker is that Jennie tests positive when she's
only slept with Telly, once (compare with Ruby who gets away clean despite
having slept around constantly).

With this revelation, Telly mutates into a walking, sexually prolific,
time-bomb while Jennie tries to track him down (difficult as Telly hasn't
spoken to her since his "victory"). The roving pair in question wander by
Telly's house to try and get some money, which his mother won't give them
(although Casper becomes transfixed as she breast-feeds Telly's infant
brother). With this rejection, they steal it instead and head off to find some
more drugs at the local park, where their tribe chills out (an obvious example
of the lack of parental control exercised over these sociopaths). Perhaps the
brightest spot in this bleak tale is the admirable lack of racism apparent,
although homophobia is alive and well in this paranoid group. Spurred into
action by the heavy mid-afternoon haze, Telly announces to Casper that he
fancies a little more "surgery" and that he knows a cute little thirteen
year-old who'd be just perfect. The question is, can Jennie reach Telly before
he takes both Darcy's (Yakira Peguero) innocence and her life?

Although

Kids

contains absolutely no nudity, with words and actions the
enclosed world of these children is thrown repellently into our faces. Using
a documentary feel of grainy footage, close-ups and hand-held photography, the
line between reality and fiction becomes intentionally blurred. The actors are
all unknown and their characters could easily be real inner-city kids in any
run-down, drug-addled urban landscape. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of
this film is not the behaviour (such as the rape of a stoned girl) shown but
the fact that even basic morals are non-existent. The structure on which
civilisation rests is simply not-applicable to these youths and, scarily, many
of them will live to be adults, when they can cause real damage. However, the
film loses focus somewhat in its second half (diverting from the single theme
that parents are important) and ends diffusively, with a whimper. The result is
a movie that isn't all that good but contains a message of burning importance,
and that's enough.

There is one outstanding question though - given that Telly finds that he has
AIDS, would he change his behaviour? As Telly says - "Fucking is all I have.
Take that away and I've got nothing". I guess not then.

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