At its core Kin is a B-movie plot about a kid, Eli (Myles Truitt), who find a super powerful laser cannon (Reminiscent of the 1978 movie Laserblast). Honestly the best parts of the movie are the main kid just being stoked to have this crazy sci-fi gun.
On top of that though is a surprisingly well executed entirely different movie. Eli is adopted, but since his adoptive mother died he’s been raised by his cold and uncompromising father (Dennis Quaid who is honestly a weak part of the movie), so he’s been getting in fights at school and has been suspended. Also his older brother, Jimmy (Jack Reynor), has just gotten out of jail and needs money to pay off the gangsters (Headed up by James Franco) that protected him in prison. One thing leads to another and Jimmy goes on the run with Eli, with Franco and 2 faceless soldiers after the gun on their tail.
It’s more complicated to explain than it is to watch play out, but the point is that it works emotionally and feels real. James Franco and Zoë Kravitz feel entirely overqualified to be here, but here they are.
The problem is the ending sucks.
And it super sucks. It over explains shit that didn’t need explaining, cheapens the emotional arc and tries to set up a mythology I super do not care about. It’s just bad all around.
It could have worked if 90% of the expositional dialogue had been cut out. The movie also would have been better if the end had just been hacked off. Well, there’s one plot thread you’d want to tie off, but the way it is tied off makes this feel like a kids movie in a way it 90% isn’t. (Ok, it’s not a kids movie at all but it’s not that far off from being an 80s kids movie).
The end turned this from what could have been one of may favorite movies of the year to one I wouldn’t recommend. If you encounter it in the wild, like on Netflix, and have no expectations you’ll probably have a good time, until the end; which is a bummer.
Thank You For Your Time.
