Alright, I know its been out for a little bit, and most critics have already passed their judgment on this one, but hear me out: Go ahead and give the film a chance. I know I’ve probably already admitted I’m overly generous when it comes to judging sci-fi, but even weighing out every flaw in the film (and don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some flaws), Kin is actually a worthwhile watch for a number of reasons.
When despondent 14 year old Eli Solinski (Myles Truitt) finds a technologically advanced laser gun on an abandoned lot, he kept it well hidden. That is, until his recently released, ex-convict adoptive brother Jimmy (Jack Reynor) gets the family mixed up with a dangerous money lender, Taylor (James Franco.) Suddenly, Eli finds himself having to use his new-found weapon as Jimmy takes leads him on an unexpected road trip. Unfortunately, Taylor and the mysterious owners of the gun are not far behind them.
On a technical level, there really isn’t that much wrong with the film. The cinematography is pretty, the camera angles are interesting, even the special effects aren’t bad at all. Even the acting is decent for the most part. Myles Truitt does seem a little stiff at first, but I believe he is making a strong character choice, rather than under performing. James Franco is definitely over the top as the main baddie of this film, but I still found him and his terrible mullet wildly entertaining. He reminded me of the hammy scum villains from the 80’s and 90’s that I kind of miss. Overall, for newcomers who have only previously directed a couple of shorts, the Baker brothers could have done much worse.
Perhaps the biggest thing that causes Kin to lose most of the audience is the lack of focus on what the film wants to be. A large portion of the film is an emotional road-trip thriller, and the other part is a sci-fi. I will say this: it took a lot of guts combining the two genres. In some ways, it was reminiscent of Logan in this regard. However, where Logan’s story felt completely organic, this one was slightly disjointed. It had a lot of wonderful ideas for the plot, but it felt like two separate stories got fused into one. I know that wasn’t the case, seeing as how the short it was based off of, Bag Man was practically the same idea. The ironic part is that I, a complete lover of sci-fi, would rather remove the sci-fi element and keep the realistic road drama. The film would have been absolutely compelling on its own without any awesome laser gun or “alien” assailants. Not that those things weren’t cool either. But the problem with the sci-fi story is that I got maybe only 5% of a set-up for what appears to be a huge futuristic war plot, but I’m probably not going to get any resolution with that. Which kind of makes me sad, because I don’t like being teased with stories that won’t be told. In the end, I would rather just stick with the other plot, which got resolved fairly well within the film.
So, why you ask, should you still watch it, despite it being an awkward hybrid of genres? Kin still has so many good elements to it that I was still entertained all throughout the film. Instead of overly long, loud, action scenes, it had some wonderful moments of character development. Even though it is flawed, it has a lot of heart, something which even the most technically perfect science fiction doesn’t always achieve. There is something…dare I say…nostalgic about it that made it feel like it could have been made in any decade. Most of all, give Kin a chance because I want more filmmakers to not be afraid to make something like this. Whether they succeed or fail, original science fiction stories are always welcome. I really do commend this film for trying.
