Review: ‘Kids In Love’ Is A Lazy Cliché

Aine Geraghty ’19 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Set in modern day England, Kids In Love is an indie coming-of-age film that centers around the story of Jack (Will Poulter), who begins to question if the future he has planned for himself is the one he really wants. After meeting the beautiful and free-spirited Evelyn (Alma Jodorowsky) on the street one day, Jack finds himself in a new group of adventurous friends who help him he see that life is only what you make of it.
At this point, the audience is set up to believe that the question the film is asking is the same one Jack’s new friend Cassius (Preston Thompson) inquires of him, which is “What would you do if money didn’t matter? If you could do anything, just for the kick of it?”Almost immediately the film ruins that potential, and instead tries to not only become a giant Jack Wills advert in appearance (Jack Wills being the English version of Abercrombie & Fitch), but it also moves the plot from insightful to cliché. Jack begins to fall more and more in love with Evelyn, so instead of his story focusing on how through new friendships he discovers that a conventional way of life may not be for him, it becomes more about him chasing a girl he can’t have because she has a crappy boyfriend she won’t leave. Yawn.

Another problem the film had was unsettling loose ends it left in the storyline. While Jack’s new friend group is comprised completely of people whose lives are loose ends, his parents and best friend Tom (Jamie Blackley) are a source of conflict for Jack that are never completely dealt with. There is one scene where the three corner Jack in his room and attempt to make him see their way again, but Jack explodes in anger because he wants to run his own life, and he “runs away” to Viola’s (Cara Delevingne) home, who is a member of his new squad. We later see him suddenly living in his own home again and the movie concluding with no scene of reconciliation between the family members.

Most of the situations in the film were unrealistic, along with a lot of the acting. Will Poulter did an excellent job delivering a lot of believable scenes when it came to Jack’s frustration with feeling like his life was being run for him. These instances unfortunately went to waste as the plot went in other directions. The two other redeemable acts in the film are Preston Thompson and Jamie Blackley, who both act as best friend figures to Jack with their characters Cassius and Tom. Since neither of their solid performances get nearly enough screen time, they could do nothing to save the film. Regrettably, more screen time goes to Alma Jodorowsky, who tries to sell Evelyn as a mysterious wild child who is deeply saddened because she is lost in the world. However, Evelyn comes across as a manipulative tease who refuses to see how spoiled she is with doctors for parents who let her do whatever she wants. It feels like Jodorowsky trying to give a modern day performance of Claire Standish from The Breakfast Club. Jodorowsky makes Evelyn so unlikeable that you anticipate upcoming scenes to not include the character.
As a whole, the Kids In Love comes across as very repetitive and uninspired. We’ve all seen the story of the kid who is unsure of his future only to have a pretty girl walk into his life and change everything. Kids In Love gives us all those tired tropes, right down to the bad-news boyfriend our love interest refuses to breakup with. This film had a chance to take a situation we are all familiar with and possibly say or do something new with it, but instead we had to watch a lazy attempt at taking a “deep” look into the desires of today’s youth. Kids In Love is certainly not a film you will fall in love with.
Overall Grade: C-
Watch The Trailer:
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVb30Zn5LcQ[/embedyt]