mid90s · reception & legacy

2018 · Jonah Hill

How mid90s has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

Greeted in 2018 with 'the actor wants to be a director now' skepticism and constant Kids comparisons, it landed as a solid-not-stunning debut — but it's since settled in as a beloved comfort rewatch for a generation of young film fans, the soft-hearted corner of 2018's great skate-movie trifecta alongside Minding the Gap and Skate Kitchen.

What's debated

The forever debate: is it an authentic, lived-in hangout film or just prettified 90s nostalgia — a gentler, safer Kids made by a famous guy with great music-licensing money?

Its footprint

Ray's 'a lot of the time we feel like our lives are the worst' pep talk is quoted endlessly in Letterboxd reviews, and the film's grainy 16mm, 4:3 skate-video look (plus that Wu-Tang-to-Nirvana needle-drop soundtrack) became shorthand for a whole aesthetic of 90s-kid melancholy.

Where it stands

A Letterboxd-era comfort classic — the hangout movie young cinephiles put in their four favorites, less canonized by critics than adopted by fans.

★ Did you know? Jonah Hill cast real skaters rather than actors — Na-kel Smith and Olan Prenatt came from the actual skate world, not auditions — and the score was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Named by the director

Influences Jonah Hill has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

This Is England (2006) — Hill cited Shane Meadows' film as a touchstone for portraying a youth subculture with warmth and specificity rather than judgment.
Martin Scorsese — Hill has said Scorsese mentored him through the film, reading the script and advising him that every single creative decision matters.