Kickflip (2020) - Blu-ray Review

We gratefully acknowledge distributor Movie Zyng/AV Entertainment, who provided the product for this review.

There’s a saying among skaters that you don’t quit skateboarding because you get old; You get old because you quit skateboarding.

Kickflip is a wonderful low-budget Malay picture that may lack big studio production values, but has a ton of heart.

At 37, Johan (writer-director and star Khairil Bahar) finds himself reeling from the sabotage of his photography company, having been cheated by his business partner. With a baby on the way, he starts at the bottom of the corporate ladder, accepting an entry-level position in a soul-sucking marketing firm with smarmy, tyrannical management.

Having sold off his photography equipment to try to raise some cash, he’s despondent and feeling robbed of his passion. He has a loving wife and is looking forward to being a father, but outside of his home life things are looking pretty rotten.

Until he sees a teenager skating in the office parking garage, suddenly stoking the flames of a half-forgotten love of skateboarding. Like so many “used to skate” adults, he left it behind. Befriending the youth, who name is Ali (Syed Qodeem), and picking up the board again, he starts to rediscover the spark of happiness he’d lost.

This is unquestionably a very personal passion piece. It felt personal to me as well. In fact, I was surprised to discover that the month this film debuted, September 2020, was the same month that I bought a skateboard for the first time, nearly 40 and suddenly deciding to try something I’d always wanted to do but just never did.

I really enjoyed watching Johan’s journey, and innately understanding and identifying with a lot of the feeling and experiences that he goes through as a skater, especially as an older and less certain one: The allure of skate shops and longing after specific deck designs. The importance of assembling your own board. The intimidation factor of busy skate parks. Feeling out of place or judged for hanging out with kids with half your age.

Obviously this story really resonated with me for personal reasons, but I think it’s a great film, especially for a low budget one. Some of the acting is stilted, and Johan’s bosses come off as almost comically bitchy – not in a fun way, but just absurdly over-the-top mean. But it’s pretty forgivable when your realize a lot of the actors are pulling double duty as both cast and crew, and performing in English as a second language. You’ve gotta respect the hustle.

The film is mostly in black and white, and my son, who watched some of it with me, asked my why. I didn’t think anything of it, saying that was just how it was shot, but I was wrong. There’s actually a specific reason why this movie is grey, and there are also parts where it does incorporate color, and these made me smile and realize this film was working on another level.

The Package

We gratefully acknowledge distributor Movie Zyng/AV Entertainment, who provided the product for this review.

Kickflip is available on MOD Blu-ray from Liminal Films.

The film is mostly in English and partially in Malay. The Malay portions have burned-in subtitles but the English-language do not have any optional subs.

Special Features and Extras:

Production Diaries (2:06:01) – A pretty substantial archive of production vlogs with Klairil talking about the process of making the film. Like the movie, it’s mostly in black and white with occasional behind the scenes tidbits. Also occasional cat sightings.