Kin

Co-Writers/Directors Jonathan and Josh Baker’s Kin reminds me of a current Spectrum commercial in which the homeowner is remarking on the installation of a rival company’s roof disc.  “It’s pretty ugly,” she comments and the installer responds, “You’re saying it’s ‘pretty.’”  “I’m saying it’s super ugly,” she retorts.  “Oh, and ‘super’, too,” is his takeaway.” 

Kin is a super stupid story with some pretty ugly characters.  It’s one of those movies that makes one wonder how it ever got made.

A 14-year-old Black boy (Myles Truit), who was adopted by a White family, finds a strange weapon in an abandoned warehouse along with the bodies of strangely-dressed soldiers.  Okay.

Then, the story turns to his adopted brother Jimmy (Jack Reynor), just out of prison, who teams up with gangsters led by (James Franco) to steal money from his father’s business. 

 His father (Dennis Quaid) gets killed and Jimmy runs off with his adopted brother without letting the lad know their father is dead.  Charming.

The film becomes a crime thriller as they escape with the gangsters chasing them and later pick up being chased by some other gangsters, as well.  The strange weapon wielded by the boy becomes their ticket to safety.

Finally, we find out the boy is from another dimension, being hidden in ours, so we’re back to a sci-fi thriller and couldn’t care less.

 

I give Kin a 2 out of 5; that high only because of the appeal of young Myles Truit, who will hopefully be cast in better fare.