‘Destroy All Girls’ Review: A Young Jersey Woman Joins a Group of Itinerant Skater Dudes in a Hip and Evocative Drama

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‘Destroy All Girls’ Review: A Young Jersey Woman Joins a Group of Itinerant Skater Dudes in a Hip and Evocative Drama

The Hollywood Reporter · 5 hours ago

A review from the Locarno Film Festival covers "Destroy All Girls," a drama directed by Erin Vassilopoulos about a young New Jersey woman named Alex who escapes a difficult home life by joining a group of itinerant in-line skaters. The film, co-written by star Ani Mesa-Perez, premiered in Locarno's Cinema of the Present strand and is praised for its hip, evocative style and handheld, documentary-like camerawork, though the critic notes the film takes a more observational than pointed approach to the low-key sexism simmering beneath the group's laid-back bro culture.

Alex, a bodega worker who cares for her brother Gabriel after he is paralysed in a car accident, finds escape at the skatepark, where she meets Cameron, the Scottish-accented leader of a nomadic skater crew called the Prospers. The group travels between skateparks in a converted bus, getting high and hoping to attract a sponsor to turn professional in California, though how they actually fund their lifestyle is left ambiguous. The film runs 87 minutes and also stars Gil Perez-Abraham, Dominic Bruce, Florencia Lozano and Malcolm Heard.

  • "Destroy All Girls" premieres at Locarno, reviewed as a hip skater drama
  • Jersey woman Alex joins itinerant in-line skater crew to escape home life
  • Faux-documentary style explores subtle sexism within the skaters' bro culture

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