Kid-Thing (2012) User Reviews

Good/bad intentions

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 6 April 2012]

The movie really sets very high goals. And I guess you could talk quite a bit about that ending. But I'll leave that up to you (if you are willing to go the whole distance that is). The thing is that while the main actor (a child) is really good in what he is doing, he is absolutely not likable. Even if you take into account that it's not really the fault of the kid (the kid does not have supernatural powers or anything else like that).

The director was there (with his brother, who is in the movie) and did explain a few things. Again the intentions were very good, but I do feel the movie fails in a few aspects of it. It remains mysterious until the end, which you either think is a good thing or will make you loathe the movie even more. Very strange pace and not really with mass appeal

Souithern Fried Surreal Kid Comedy Thing

[patrick-bliss · 8/10 · 27 September 2012]

A truly independent American production, Kid-Thing was produced, written, directed, recorded and shot by the Texan Zellner Brothers. And if one of them was a 10 year old girl, they would have taken the lead role as well, but seeing as they're not, the brothers instead play her father, Marvin, and his dumb ass sidekick Caleb.

Annie is a 10 year old girl living in a rundown Hicksville town somewhere in Texas. With no apparent friends and a father who pays little attention to her, she lives on a diet that consists almost entirely of sweets (breakfast is a big multicoloured bowl of them, with milk) and spends her days ambling through the streets and surrounding woodland, setting off firecrackers, pelting things at cars and various other acts of minor vandalism.

At first this looks like it's shaping up to be a southern fried American take on the social realist work of another hardworking pair of film making siblings, Belgium's Dardennes Brothers. But a couple of scenes in, things take a different turn when Annie stumbles across a hole in the ground and hears an old woman calling for help. She returns with food to feed the mysterious voice, who identifies herself as Esher, but refuses her pleas to help her get out of there.

We are now in a quirky fairy tale world where everything is just a little off kilter. The brothers delight in scene after scene of unexpected comic moments that make ingenious use of the locations, props and people they had to hand – a rotting dead cow, a blind guitarist who can sing and play songs backwards (a Kings of Leon number, at a guess), a hypnotised chicken - and the little details - dead cockroaches on the windowsill, weeds sprouting through paving slabs, a tramp sleeping under newspaper at a bus stop. It's worth seeing just Annies unique sandwich making technique.

The brothers made a brave choice in casting Sydney Aguire as Annie, who doesn't fit the cute kid role that is normally required for this sort of thing. Instead we get a tomboyish force of nature with a cruel, destructive streak, but who is also sensitive enough to convey a whole host of emotions and to always keep us guessing as to what she will do next.

The only good part was the pizza eating scene

[misterjseven · 1/10 · 19 January 2020]

The pizza was crunchy but with ample topping. It looked delicious and sounded delicious and I've never seen any food in a film that I've wanted more because of the way it was portrayed on film. The movie itself was as shallow as it gets, but these guys could definitely have a promising career in making pizza commercials.

A peaceful story featuring loud subject matter

[StevePulaski · 8/10 · 19 June 2013]

Annie is a young girl with no parental supervision, no destined path in life, and is almost morally absent. Her days involve lumbering around her broken, decrepit town either shoplifting, eating, or just riding her bike in solitude. One day, she hears a voice call out helplessly from the bottom of a deep, dark well. It's sounds as if it belongs to an elderly woman who fell down the well and is hungry, desperate, and possibly injured. Annie is now at a quandary; this is likely the most responsibility in terms of choice and decision this girl has ever had and needs to take some position of action before it's too late.

David Zellner's Kid-Thing is an interesting film, solely for the purpose of its protagonist being so unpredictable, reckless, and, yet, so human that it's hard to turn your attention away from her. She is played by Sydney Aguirre, a young newcomer who handles the incredibly difficult role of playing a youth with crippled emotion stunningly. The camera is fixated on her for about seventy-five minutes out of the eighty-three minute affair, and she is never seen smiling or abandoning her default smug expression she has seemingly held forever. We can see quite clearly this is a fault of the broken environment she has inhabited for so long. It's a place - in the backwoods of Texas - that seems to have robbed little Annie of all emotional resonance and empathy.

Kid-Thing reminds me, most of all, of a film that popular trash director Harmony Korine or even transgressive auteur John Waters would make in their heydays. Korine, whose films Gummo and Julien-Donkey Boy are some of the best of the nineties, specializes in the commentary of broken, dismantled youths thanks to hopeless home-lives or community brokenness. His artistic vision would've greatly benefited an already gripping topic. Waters would've likely turned the subject into a short with more grittiness to the material, but no doubt both men would utilize shock-elements in their stories to amplify them to great effects.

Zellner uses the minimalist approach to tell this story, not looking to shock or appall, but to simply amuse, fascinate, and occasional mesmerize us with his talent for making the smaller moments beautiful and the entire picture elegant in its moral-emptiness. Making this material even remotely attractive, let alone watchable, is an achievement in its own right, and Zellner never seems to employ cheap glorification techniques on a story that is fragile and delicate. He, along with his brother, directed and starred in Goliath, another micro-budget independent film that generated much discussion.

Kid-Thing is a peaceful film dealing with subject matter, such as a broken adolescence, loss of innocence, and emotional vapidness, that is often loud and noticeable. This film takes time to build up scenes, many of them in particular, lack a payoff, which isn't always a bad thing. Pay close attention to the facial expressions of characters and the way they recite their lines; this is the first film ever where I don't believe I ever saw a character smile once.

Starring: Sydney Aguirre, Nathan Zellner, David Wingo, Zack Carlson, and Heather Kafka. Directed by: David Zellner.

An amazing low key drama with a hell of an ending.

[geodrake-71-627198 · 9/10 · 23 June 2012]

Kid-Thing is a gut wrenching study of childhood alienation, loneliness and despair; layered with bleak humour. Annie, played by Sydney Aguirre, is an eleven year old girl living with her redneck father in rural Texas. Her days consist of skipping school, spending time consistently alone engaged in thoughtless petty destruction. This behaviour increasingly strikes the viewer as a display of nihilism. She shoplifts but doesn't seem to find any real pleasure in what she steals. A colourful lollipop is enjoyed as a treat for a little while then smashed against a tree. There is no adult governance or mentoring in Annie's life apart from in the soccer team she plays with. Her Dad Marvin (Nathan Zellner, brother of the film's director) is preoccupied with running his failing farm and drinking heavily. Marvin has no chance of success. He's no idea how to raise a daughter, and no real interest in doing so. Not because he's a bad person, but because he's dull minded. Out in the woods one day, Annie is startled by eerie shouts for help coming from an old well shaft. At first she's terrified and runs. Next day curiosity gets the better of her and she returns. Annie discovers a woman named Ester (voiced by Susan Tyrrell), who remains out of sight, is trapped down the well. First off Annie asks if she's the Devil, a reasonable question for a child hearing a voice from underground. Not one to be told what to do, Annie doesn't fetch help but over a couple of visits, provides Ester with food and drink, plus a walkie talkie so the two can communicate at distance. The first time Annie turns on her walkie talkie, she hears Ester sobbing uncontrollably. Later that night, Annie and Ester get into a conversation over the airwaves. Increasingly desperate for Annie to bring help to get her out of the well due to her worsening condition, Ester raises her voice. They argue, calling each other 'The Devil' tit for tat. Static and misery gives Ester's voice a sinister edge which is unsettling to hear. Ester starts crying again and the communication ends. After a while, Annie hails Ester again to offer a deal; she'll free Ester if Ester will take Annie away with her. No reply comes from Ester. In spite of the deal being unconfirmed, Annie goes to the well again with some supplies and repeats the offer. She's delayed reaching the well as her bike's stolen from outside the store, ironically during the only visit she pays for good instead of stealing them. There's still no response from Ester, so Annie throws down the supplies and returns home. There she witnesses Marvin have a heart attack, but does not help him. Whether this is from fear or malice is left for the viewer to decide. Annie goes to the well a final time for a heartbreakingly tragic finale. Director David Zellner (who also plays the role of 'Caleb') draws viewers into the confined universe inhabited by Annie using close camera shots at all times. Thus the audience share some of the character's imprisoned existence. Heat parched, monotonous rural Texas life is shown in macro, reflecting Annie's boring life. This boredom, along with acute loneliness gives birth to her unwittingly nihilistic behaviour; which finds ultimate expression in some of the most effective and brilliantly unsettling scenes of the movie. We see a family preparing to celebrate the daughter's birthday outside their house. Firstly the Mother brings out the daughter, who's around Annie's age and wheelchair bound, and sets her by a table. Party decorations festoon the property, bright colours clashing against sun bleached paint as if cheer is being determinedly forced into a sphere of depression. Although it's a happy occasion, the Mother seems so sad that she's about to cry – an expression that clashes with the 'Happy Birthday' headpiece she's wearing. The mother brings a cake, and then the father places two wrapped gifts on the table. Not a word is spoken until the father can't find the birthday candles and the mother goes back into the house to help him look, leaving the girl alone in her wheelchair. Annie suddenly appears, eyeing the girl with hostility and brandishing a baseball bat. She uses the bat to obliterate the cake, grabs one of the presents and runs off. Neither she nor the girl says anything. When they come out and see the damage, both parents look utterly bewildered. Violence coming from an indefinable rage at the human condition is woven beautifully with black comedy; inescapable misery and pathos to set your spine tingling. Sydney Aguirre does a sterling job as Annie. For someone so young she doesn't seem to even notice the camera that is focused on her for most of the 83 minutes. Her default sullen expression only cracks to display fear when she first hears Ester's cries for help, and when she comes close to smiling whilst on a fairground ride. Aguirre thus convincingly demonstrates Annie's crippled emotional being. For Annie has been dehumanised by the life she's drifting through, with no meaningful relationships or developmental support. The title, Kid-Thing alludes to this state of affairs. Even though some of her behaviour is reprehensible, the viewer cannot help pitying Annie. She's as trapped in her directionless, mediocre sphere of existence as Ester is trapped in the well. Viewers never sees Ester, nor discovers if the reason she falls silent is death or escape. David Zellner does this to infect the audience with Annie's early suspicion that Ester is demonic; tempting the young girl to her doom by offering false hope of a better life. Kid thing delivers a punch to the soul that can be felt long after the final credits roll. It proves that there's no need for convoluted plot, smart dialogue or frenetic pacing for a film to be infectiously watchable. Should you fail to catch this at the E.I.F.F. I recommend you see it as soon as possible.

Just got back from the Sundance premiere!

[EyesTea · 10/10 · 23 January 2012]

Having been a long-time fan of the Zellner Bros.' work, I was pretty eager to see their latest feature. Needless-to-say, KID-THING did not disappoint. I loved every second of it, and can't wait to see it again!

Newcomer, Sydney Aguirre, gives a break-out performance as Annie -- a friendless, essentially parent-less, 11 year old who roams around her east-Texas town wreaking havoc. One day, while hanging out alone in the woods, Annie comes across a woman at the bottom of a well (voiced by Hollywood legend, Susan Tyrrell). The cast is rounded out by the Zellner Bros. themselves (who are delightful as usual), and a host of interesting characters -- a catatonic, young birthday girl, a blind, backwards-guitar playing singer, lots and lots of farm animals (alive and dead), etc.

I can't recommend this film enough. Check it out if you get the chance!

Great film, deserves a wider audience

[Roel1973 · 8/10 · 18 September 2015]

Annie is ten years old and growing up on a farm she has no one. Her father, a backward goat farmer, leaves her on her own. Her mother is dead or has left the house hold. Annie spends her time destroying things, stealing or otherwise being anti-social. One day, she hears a voice in the woods. The voice belongs to Esther, a woman who went out walking and fell down a water well. She pleads with Annie to go get help, but Annie is not convinced she should do just that. Because who says Esther is even human? Maybe she's the devil?

Kid-Thing is strong stuff. A movie that lures us quietly into the life of Annie who seems innocent enough. First we laugh at her antics, like when she places a crank call to Triple A. Slowly but surely though, we understand that this little girl has no moral compass at all and very little empathy. When Esther orders her from deep down in the well to alert the authorities, the only emotion Annie feels is indignation that a stranger should order her around ("You're not the boss of me!").

Trouble is: Annie is not to blame. We see that she is all alone.There's a poignant scene in which she tries to talk to a (blind and handicapped) adult about right and wrong. She doesn't get a satisfactory answer and ends up stealing his wallet.

As played by the terrific young actress Sidney Aguirre Annie never loses our sympathy. Not even during the closing scene, which has a dark poetry and tells us Annie is truly a psychopath in the making.

The film makers – two brothers from Texas – have a great style, full of long, quiet shots and beautiful visual compositions. Their bizarre humor made me think of the Coens. (The Zellner brothers' next film is about a Japanese woman who mistakes the movie Fargo for a treasure map!) I hope this movie will someday find a bigger audience. It certainly deserves it.

Dang , At first I was like oh no, this is a Gummo...

[juanmuscle · 10/10 · 7 February 2019]

But more destructive as this lil' girl has her wits about her; but later, after some stuff, I was like oh no, this girl is so terrible, and then I was like this girl just needs a lil' help and then at the very end I was like --- this lil' girl what? Period...

Oh no! and that is the end...

I just wow, really really good script defnitely the metaphors and the themes and all are really nice and then the end and I'm like wait what?

Please someone expound ??????? expatiate something!! pray please!