Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- confrontational
- disturbing
- serious film discussion
- late night cinephile viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regarded the film as carefully crafted but emotionally dispiriting and excessively provocative, with disagreement over whether its shocks produce insight.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The teenagers' tormented home environments and pervasive suburban ennui dominate the film's emotional world.
Tate, Peaches, Claude, Shawn, and their peers occupy interconnected but largely separate storylines.
The film foregrounds incest, suicide, abuse, sexuality, and drug use in an intentionally controversial presentation.
The plot repeatedly presents abusive, monstrous, controlling, or dysfunctional parents surrounding the teenagers.
Films like Ken Park, and why
Kids
shared teen drama, suburban alienation, sexual transgression, and confrontational realism
Bully
shared provocative youth culture, dysfunctional families, bleak suburban atmosphere, and moral alienation
Mysterious Skin
shared disturbing coming of age themes, damaged adolescents, abuse, and emotionally harsh realism
Movie Details
- Directors
- Larry Clark, Edward Lachman
- Release Date
- 2003-01-30
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (712)
Cast
- James Ransone
- Tiffany Limos
- Stephen Jasso
- James Bullard
- Mike Apaletegui
- Adam Chubbuck
- Amanda Plummer
- Wade Williams
- Maeve Quinlan
- Richard Riehle
Common questions
- What is Ken Park about?
- Several California teenagers navigate abusive homes, sexual confusion, religious pressure, and suburban despair in a deliberately abrasive portrait of adolescent alienation.
- What is Ken Park like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Ken Park as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Ken Park violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Ken Park as moderate.
- What did critics think of Ken Park?
- Critics broadly regarded the film as carefully crafted but emotionally dispiriting and excessively provocative, with disagreement over whether its shocks produce insight.
- Which films are like Ken Park?
- Films with a similar feel include Kids, Bully, and Mysterious Skin.
- How long is Ken Park?
- Ken Park runs 97 minutes.
