Kin (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: While searching an abandoned building for scrap metal, Elijah (Myles Truitt) finds a weapon that is clearly not of this earth. As the original owners of the weapon set out to retrieve, his adoptive older brother Jimmy (Jack Reynor) is on the run from gangster Taylor (James Franco) and he and Elijah hit the road to get away from them all.

Truitt makes for a very solid focal point performance, as all the uncertainty and questioning about familial bonds in the script sit comfortably on his shoulders throughout. Reynor as his older brother manages a rather enviable balancing act between stable and dangerous, portraying both his criminal inclinations and his devotion to his family and closest allies with equal sincerity. Dennis Quaid as their father, as brief as his appearance ends up being, establishes a sturdy foundation for the film’s larger musings to launch off from, and in his scenes opposite Truitt and Reynor, he really comes across as someone who only wants the best for his kids.

 

Franco as the big bad gangster of the film lets him tap into his under-appreciated knack for character acting, as he channels a similar feeling of doing anything for one’s family but takes it in a much darker direction, showing what that kind of loyalty can result in if unchecked. And then there’s Zoë Kravitz as a stripper who befriends the two brothers, and as much as I take issue with how weirdly sanitary that line of work comes across on-screen, credit to her for adding a hefty amount of pathos to the core of the film’s narrative.

Time for a bit of Aussie pride, as it seems that first-time directing duo Jonathan and Josh Baker have come roaring out of the gate with this one. Right from the start, they and DOP Larkin Seiple (Swiss Army Man, Childish Gambino’s This Is America) set a very eerie yet domestic tone, like the audience is staring at the real world through an intergalactic lens. Same goes for the soundtrack by Scottish band Mogwai, whose compositions combine familiar and (for lack of a better term) alien textures to give the film a similar sensation that Aesop Rock’s work on Bushwick did. Between all of this, it establishes what the narrative itself is setting out to do: A down-to-earth and rather gritty story about family with sci-fi aesthetic painted onto it.

 

Here’s where the visual quality ends up reaching its apex, as the way that both the earthly criminal and otherworldly destructive elements mingle throughout the film feels like just enough has been taken from the latter to bolster the former without completely overshadowing it (save for an ending that is too open-ended for its own good). Not only that, the effects work to bring the more fantastical aspects to life are done with an amazing crispness, showing that the Baker brothers have a lot of potential for future ventures.

But I probably shouldn’t try and oversell the sci-fi parts of this production; after all, they exist largely to build up a story that is far more interested on the domestic than the galactic. Set against the backdrop of modern-day Detroit, which as has been mentioned on this blog before is a regular go-to to show America at its most destitute, we get a real sense of how much the criminal element seeps into the fabric of everyday life.

 

We see Elijah getting involved in scrapping, the act of tearing down abandoned buildings for scrap metal, wiring and pretty much anything that can be sold at a yard, as the immediate example of this; what people in the here-and-now have to do in order to afford the basics. And then we have Jimmy, his recent stint in jail and his connection to Taylor, who helped keep him safe while behind bars. He shows the longer-lasting effects of this socioeconomic landscape: Not only is criminal life a necessity in this environment, given how ex-cons struggle in the workforce, it also ends up being the only resort these people have for a wage. Between the two, the film shows a certain moral ambiguity about their actions throughout, up to and including armed robbery, but keeps the hostility of their surroundings in focus so as not to forget why they’re doing it.

And on top of that, the film also dives head-first into questions about family and brotherhood, making the audience take note of how much those bonds mean to the characters. Elijah’s place in the core family as an adopted son rarely even gets brought up, outside of narrative prerequisite, and that ends up highlighting how much the idea of ‘adopted family’ is a bit redundant. Regardless of blood relation, Elijah and Jimmy are brothers through and through, and looking at the chemistry of their actors, it’s hard to dispute that. This combined with the musings about the hows and whys of criminal activity, it pushes the idea of forced action further into showing that those actions aren’t coming from a place of selfishness. Nor is it coming from a place of outright righteousness either.

 

Whether it’s Jimmy hating himself for the secrets he’s keeping from his brother, Elijah struggling to just keep the family together, or even Taylor and his own familial connections that drive him to take action, these people aren’t shown through a moral perspective; these people are just trying to make the best of a bad situation. And if one of their own gets caught in the crossfire, you better believe that they will go to the ends of the Earth (and possibly beyond) to keep them safe.

All in all, this is a pretty solid feature, if a bit rough around the edges as far as delivering a complete story on its own terms. The visuals allow for a lot of eerie atmosphere to shine through, doubly so for the spacious soundtrack, the acting makes the emphasis on family feel astoundingly natural, and the writing (mostly) manages to combine gritty family drama and sci-fi-tinged action in a way that allows for the production as a whole to stay cohesive while giving both sides their chance to shine. It’s not an outright perfect synergy, and it does feel like some parts of both end up malnourished as a result, but considering this is a first-time outing for the Aussie brothers in the director’s seat, it makes for a good first step in what I hope is a fruitful career. I mean, locally-sourced science fiction is something I will never get tired of seeing on the big screen.