Charm City Kings
HBO Max | Release Date (Streaming): October 8, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The PlaylistRobert DanielsFeb 1, 2020
Charm City Kings is beautiful and important, unabashedly Black, yet rarely traumatic, and almost always determined statement. Soto has crafted an incredible empathetic narrative, one mile of road at a time. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubCarlos AguilarOct 7, 2020
Charm City Kings distinguishes itself from similar fare not just through its location and eye-popping bikes but also with the believably imperfect people that populate it. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoOct 8, 2020
Its abundance of plot contrivances in the final act and overly scripted dialogue hold it back from greatness, but two excellent performers overcome all of this familiarity. I can't want to see them again. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnFeb 1, 2020
Guided by Angel Manuel Soto’s slick direction and a breakthrough performance from Jahi Di’Allo Winston, the movie works overtime to energize real-world struggles with the thrill of street life. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekOct 8, 2020
Charm City Kings lands on an elegiac, bittersweet note rather than a happy one, and doesn’t feature as many crazy, exhilarating bike stunts as you might hope. But in its view of a world where kids make their own fun and also, sometimes, their own bad choices, it rings true. Sometimes becoming a man is the hardest stunt to pull off. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah Tai-BlackOct 9, 2020
Overall, it’s a film that is not great but just fine. Its biggest limitations are the ones it places on its own characters. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 8, 2020
The dirt bikes and their exuberant operators are the saving grace — and joy — of the sincere if overstuffed drama Charm City Kings. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangOct 7, 2020
Charm City Kings clearly knows what it’s doing; unfortunately, what it’s doing is often just as obvious to us. Read full review
60
Screen DailyAnthony KaufmanFeb 1, 2020
Sure, the motorcycle wheelies are cool, but there’s nothing more intense than the raw emotion that comes from a mother trying to protect her child. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearOct 8, 2020
You can feel the narrative hitting predictable beats like it was upshifting an ATV’s gears, from infatuations with the outlaw life to blowing off good influences, getting sucked into the game to bad decisions leading to bodies dropping. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChris BarsantiOct 5, 2020
The film looks for an emotional payoff by continually upping the stakes of its main character’s self-destructive short-term thinking. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterBeandrea JulyFeb 1, 2020
Sadly, despite its title referencing a dirt bike gang, Charm City Kings doesn’t really show us anything we haven’t seen before. Unable to harness the story’s potential, the filmmakers instead deliver a mostly canned movie that flatlines 20 minutes before it comes to an end. Read full review
50
VarietyAmy NicholsonJan 31, 2020
The film’s truly ridiculous plot choices — the phony twists that make you leave the theater feeling like you’ve inhaled a tank of carbon monoxide — are its own invention, bolted onto a likable, if formulaic, charmer. Read full review
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