Kid 90 is a documentary about the teen years of child star Soleil Moon Frye, directed by her, featuring talking head interviews as well as extensive footage, audio, and journals she recorded during that time.
There is certainly some odd nostalgic appeal the movie offers particularly(or almost exclusively) for a certain Gen X demographic but this feels more like a vanity project, or a collage of all this raw material rather than an actual movie. There is certainly pain and trauma within but that is not investigated beyond the superficial and what were left with is a vague, thin, cursory gesture toward self-love. For the various child stars that share this very specific coming of age I'm sure this has a lot to offer but the experience is too insular, the privilege on display unaddressed and virtually unacknowledged, and ultimately the whole experience is layed out in too cursory a manner to offer much in the way of a message, perspective, or any real insights.
This fails considerably if compared to last years Showbiz Kids which showed both the darkness and the triumphs of that experience much more clearly and completely. On it's own it comes across as nostalgia-bait fluff, a piggy-back on the Punky Brewster reboot, which is a shame as there is clearly fathoms below the surface that we see. There are some baffling choices particularly when a montage is shown of all of Frye's friends/peers who died untimely, which is presented with virtually no context or editorializing from Frye(or any other interview subject).
Ultimately it seems Frye is still on her journey of acceptance, of coming to grips with her past and what it means, good for her, but it does not a movie make.
Currently streaming on Hulu.
Don't See It.
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