Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.
Bing Liu's debut documentary is a stunning, deeply personal work that defies easy categorization. The film weaves skateboarding footage—shot with lyrical, almost balletic cinematography—into an unflinching examination of generational trauma, domestic abuse, and working-class stagnation in Rockford, Illinois. Liu's dual role as filmmaker and participant gives the film an extraordinary intimacy and ethical complexity rarely seen in documentary. The skateboarding sequences are genuinely cinematic, not merely illustrative. The plot, which gradually reveals its darker layers with near-perfect structural pacing, earns a high mark for how organically the revelations unfold. The ending is honest and unresolved in a way that feels true to life but slightly incomplete emotionally. Acting is rated modestly since these are real subjects whose naturalism is shaped by circumstance rather than craft, though their authenticity is remarkable. Overall, one of the finest American documentaries of the decade.