Kicks

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2:18

Kicks

R

2016

1h 24m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

40 Reviews

72%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Fifteen-year-old Brandon longs for a pair of the freshest sneakers that money can buy, assuming that merely having them on his feet will help him escape the reality of being poor, neglected by the opposite sex and picked on by everyone - even his best friends. Working hard to get them, he soon finds that the titular shoes have instead made him a target after they are promptly snatched by Flaco, a local hood. Brandon goes on a mission to retrieve his stolen sneakers.

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Critics Consensus

Kicks might suffer from a few frayed laces, but this street-level coming-of-age story has heart, humor, and style to spare.

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Aramide Tinubu

Shadow and Act

Apr 12, 2017

Still, what Tipping masters perfectly in the film is the constant ebb and flow of humor, and darkness, that runs through the narrative that is inner city boyhood.

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

Mar 22, 2017

B-

It's about manhood, growing up in the hood, and the inner struggles you don't see played out on the news... It's not a perfect movie by any means, but I'm interested to see what Tipping does next.

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Barry Hertz

Globe and Mail

Sep 23, 2016

3/4

Tipping, who also co-wrote the polished script, captures this unique mix of adolescent anxiety, urban decay and societal friction in a remarkably confident fashion ...

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David Gonzalez

The Cinematic Reel

Feb 14, 2022

2.5/4

Kicks is not a terrible film. Kicks is an inconsistent film that lost its way. A film whose persistence in grimness takes away from what the viewers should really be concerned with Brandons story.

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David Bax

Battleship Pretension

Jan 5, 2021

[The] missteps aren't enough, thankfully, to detract from the strong work up to then. In fact, they're just enough to leave you hopeful for how Tipping might grow as a filmmaker...

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Adam Patterson

Film Pulse

May 2, 2019

8.5/10

A funny, touching and street-smart coming-of-age dramedy that oozes with style and is propelled by an excellent script and equally great performances.

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YAZIR O

@RT03068897 Apr 5, 2026

At least k1ll the antagonist. And sneaker culture are s*ck-*ss.

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Mikel J.

@mrjackson Jul 6, 2025

Step into the shoes, both literally and figuratively, of youth navigating the complexities of status, socioeconomics and coming of age. Gritty, realistic portrayal, poignant, heartbreaking, and often funny. Think of Coach Carter without the Hollywood treatment, A-list celebrities or soaring monologues

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mark g

@Mark_Alan_G. May 14, 2025

One of my favorite movies ever. Has everything, drama, humor, intensity, and surrealism. Strongly endorse.

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Sep 26, 2020

Good movie. It was a ghetto coming of age movie with a character who after being shy and bullied stepped up. Otherwise, superlative acting from the entire cast.

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Jun 21, 2019

Kicks follows teenager Brandon who lives in a poor neighbourhood and aspires to own a decent pair of trainers just like his friends. After struggling to save he finally gets his dream footwear only to be mugged by a local gang leader. Given the importance these kicks are to Brandon, and how they made him feel he treks across his neighbourhood on an ill-advised mission with his 2 friends to get his shoes back. The story is about the characters he meets along the way and how not everyone is who they first seemed to be. Kicks was a very different kind of film that at it's core is a gritty urban drama but also mixed in subtle elements of fantasy as we escape into the lead character's head and the person he wants to become. The young cast were very good and the showdown at the end was particularly menacing. Very different from other films of this genre.

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a b

@MaximilianKohler Dec 28, 2018

Can't believe this has an 86% rating. Lots of dumb characters doing dumb things. But maybe the point of the movie is to get dumb people to watch it and reflect on their own behavior?

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Justin Tipping

Director

Jahking Guillory

Brandon

Christopher Meyer

Rico

Christopher Jordan Wallace

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Kofi Siriboe

Flaco

Mahershala Ali

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Kicks: Trailer 1

2:18

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Synopsis

Fifteen-year-old Brandon longs for a pair of the freshest sneakers that money can buy, assuming that merely having them on his feet will help him escape the reality of being poor, neglected by the opposite sex and picked on by everyone - even his best friends. Working hard to get them, he soon finds that the titular shoes have instead made him a target after they are promptly snatched by Flaco, a local hood. Brandon goes on a mission to retrieve his stolen sneakers.

Director: Justin Tipping
Producer: David Kaplan, Adele Romanski, Joshua Astrachan, Erik Rommesmo
Screenwriter: Justin Tipping, Joshua Beirne-Golden
Distributor: Focus World
Production Co: Focus World, Focus Features, Animal Kingdom, Through Films
Rating: R (Language Throughout|Drug/Alcohol Use|Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 9, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 11, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $145.4K
Runtime: 1h 24m

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