Despite an incredibly profitable summer for movie studios, there hasn’t been a whole lot for me to get excited about. Sure, there were some fun blockbusters but the overall box office landscape wasn’t very creative. However, a little known, Sci-Fi adjacent, family drama managed to generate some curiosity. While Kin wasn’t exactly a homerun, it’s a refreshing reminder that there is no substitution for good storytelling.
The general premise was the primary selling point. Elijah lives in dilapidated Detroit, scavenging scrap from abandoned buildings to scrounge up a few extra dollars. His adoptive father tries to instill the values of honesty and hard work, but his older adoptive brother is an ex-con who just got out of jail and brings his problems back home. On one of his scavenging trips, Elijah finds a futuristic weapon that complicates his family dynamic and alters the course of his destiny.
It has been a long time coming for twin brothers and filmmakers, Jonathan and Josh Baker. The Australian pair had been working behind the camera for a decade, making commercials and short films. One of those shorts (Bag Man) served as the foundation for this project which was also their first full-length feature. While there were some good narrative elements in place, going from a 15-minute short to an hour and 42 minute feature exposed and highlighted the weaknesses in the character design. The script had its issues but the dialogue was well written and excavated a significant amount of emotional baggage. The character interactions are a strength, even with some of the design shortcomings in mind. If you’re paying attention, the ending is a bit predictable but the last 20-30 minutes did a nice job bringing it all together. Although this movie has some flaws that get in the way, it was an ambitious debut film and a good start for the Bakers.
As much as this story is about Elijah, it’s equally about his brother Jimmy…played by Jack Reynor. This is the character who suffers most from the aforementioned character design. As the title would indicate, this movie is obviously about family but the story being told there just doesn’t feel right. Reynor is actually solid in the role, but Jimmy made a bunch of bad decisions that landed him in prison and, upon his release, he continues to make more of them once he’s out. The majority of this story focuses on the relationship between the brothers as they travel across the country…because they are running from problems Jimmy created. So while he is on this “redemptive” journey of bonding with his younger brother, he continues to be a terrible sibling and repeatedly puts Elijah in danger. Jimmy is verbally adamant that he is looking out for Elijah, but his actions consistently speak to the exact opposite. There is simply no character arc…no development. As a result, there is no payoff in their relationship at the end of the story and that’s a major disappointment considering the amount of time dedicated to it.
Myles Truitt was good as Elijah, but he was handcuffed to the relationship with Jimmy. Truitt and Reynor actually had good chemistry on screen, which only made the deficiencies more disappointing. Truitt conveyed just the right amount of curiosity and innocence to bring the character across and make him sympathetic. Everything he didn’t do on his own, Dennis Quaid helped him get across as his adopted father, Hal Solinski. A fair amount of the brothers’ relationship with one another is a direct result of their individual relationships with their father. His relationships with both Elijah and Jimmy laid a lot of the groundwork for those characters and Quaid worked well with both young actors.
Rori Bergman, Sara Kay and Jenny Lewis put together a strong supporting cast to help Truitt and Reynor do the heavy lifting. While James Franco is certainly not the most popular guy as of late, he is a excellent creep in his role as Taylor Balik…the head of a local crime family in Detroit. He is one of those bad decisions Jimmy made while in prison and there isn’t a moment that goes by where he doesn’t let the audience know it. Despite his personal issues, Franco is a talented actor and this is one of the best roles I’ve seen him in. The portrayal was strong enough to warrant an entirely separate film just about Taylor and his crime family. Franco is definitely the catalyst that sets this movie into high gear, but he’s unlikely to get recognized for it. Nonetheless, it was a good role for him.
The production elements throughout the film were surprisingly strong and Production Designer Ethan Tobman did a great job highlighting the right aspects. Visual effects were inevitable in this story, but using them properly was going to be a challenge. Mark Ahee and Richard Hypolite didn’t overindulge the audience and that gave the visual effects shots that extra pop when they did finally play out. The visual effects shots are simple, effective and they are good quality too…bringing just the right amount of credibility to the final product. Larkin Seiple handled the cinematography and mixed a nice blend of colorfully lit interiors with some stark, run down exterior shots to capture both sides of the story. In many ways, he highlights something of a Promethean allegory about access to technology that’s only apparent in hindsight…but it worked.
As someone who was anticipating this movie, I found it to be something of a let down. With lower expectations, or even no expectations, this film could have very easily been a pleasant surprise. There are elements in place which make it worth watching but, ultimately, it underachieved.
Recommendation: If you think the premise is interesting, go check it out. Otherwise, wait for it to hit on demand and streaming services where your expectations are more appropriately calibrated. It’s a safe PG-13 so it can serve as a family alternative to some of the more serious films coming out.