Kid: Review. By Simon Thompson.

Writer/director Ryan J Smith’s Kid is a well shot and competent drama, which is, unfortunately somewhat cliched in a few areas. Smith manages to strike a neat balance between feel-good, yet realistic, optimism on the one hand, yet retains a sense of grit and despair when it comes to the characters’ situations on the other. 

Kid tells the story of Henry (Harry McLafferty), an ambitious yet financially constrained music producer working out of his bedroom in his childhood home. Henry is caught between a rock and hard place as he is balancing the responsibilities of producing a debut album on time and under budget, as well as dealing with his sister Roxy’s (Rhiann Millington) tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend Tristan (Neizan Fernandez). 

While the movies’ plot falls into your basic underdog story template, Ryan J Smith still has enough knowledge and skill as a filmmaker to understand what makes that template work in the first place. Kid keeps to a tight, conventional three act structure, which contributes to its economical pacing. A couple of scenes here and there essentially repeat a piece of dialogue or exposition from previous scenes, but these are thankfully few and far between and don’t dent the overall pace of the narrative. 

Although there a few lines of dialogue in Smith’s script which are a little bit too obvious or saccharine, the movie never gets sidetracked into mawkish sentimentality – a sign of Smith’s experience as a writer. The acting in this movie is fairly workmanlike, in the sense that while nobody really gives an outstanding performance the main cast are both proficient and have a good understanding of who their characters are. 

Smith’s direction and cinematography, in contrast, is something which does standout. Smith’s use of intimate angles, as well as his adoption of a darker and bolder colour scheme in the scenes where the protagonist Henry is either in a music studio or recording in his bedroom, are striking to watch. The decision for Smith to use close ups and intimate angles really works in the domestic scenes of Henry, Roxy, and Tristan living together, highlighting the tension and dissatisfaction of their situation.

Overall, Kid is a solid, well-made and decently acted drama which doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. Although it can be somewhat cheesy in a few instances it’s still a pleasant enough viewing experience that never fully turns into a John Lewis Christmas advert. 

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