Such social commentary is woven into the fabric of the film without calling attention to itself. For any women in the audience who deal with this nonstop onslaught of daily sexism (myself included), this is a powerful but quickly passing moment in Skate Kitchen. The point is that they don’t let these jerks stop them from skating. The point of this scene is not that jerks will question them. She responds casually and sarcastically, and it’s certain that she’s had to deal with this gatekeeping sexism her entire life. The best of these interactions is when, just walking down the street, a random boy sees Kurt (Nina Moran) carrying a skateboard and asks her if she can ollie. However, you do see subtle interactions happen in passing that remind the audience that the characters do have to constantly prove themselves more than their male counterparts. They’re a big group of confident girls, and they’re not intimidated by the haters.
At no point in the movie do these girls sit down and discuss how hard it is being a girl, or how marginalized they feel at the skate park. Where Skate Kitchen works best is when it highlights the female teenage experience with fluent subtlety. The comfort these girls have with one another is reassuring and serves as a reminder to those of us who have reached “Get off my lawn” age that being a kid can be pretty great, though these scenes can be a bit of a slog to get through. This unremarkable part of the teenage experience takes up the bulk of the film. There’s some jealousy and infighting, nothing out of the ordinary. Boys bring them together and tear them apart. Predictably, she hits some bumps in the road, mostly usual teenage stuff. Soon after finding her tribe in these girls, Camille runs away from home and tries to make a life skating in New York City. After meeting up IRL with a group of other girl skaters she followed on Instagram, Camille suddenly feels like a part of a cool gang no longer the lone female outsider.
She butts heads with her mother, who wants her to stay safe and healthy. Skate Kitchen follows Camille (Rachelle Vinberg), a kid on Long Island who only wants to skate. The emotions feel authentic, when they can be sussed out from behind the actors’ reserved faces. This results in some natural, though superficial performances. Skate Kitchen is about a group of skateboarders, all played by relatively unknown but skilled skaters.
Known primarily for her intriguing documentary The Wolfpack, director Crystal Moselle took a similar real-life approach to casting.
However, the film really shines when it highlights the differences between these characters and your regular, average teen. On that level, the universality of teenagers is the binding that holds Skate Kitchen together. And they want to have fun before any major, oppressive, adult responsibilities kick in.
They want to figure out how to navigate their world on their terms. Though every kid has a different pile of crud to deal with, they tend to have more in common than not.