Kokomo City

Name: Kokomo City
Genre: Documentary
Released: July 28, 2023
Duration: 73 min
Rating: 79
Cast: Bebé Smith, Daniella Carter, Dominique Silver, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell

2023

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Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews

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Kokomo City

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: July 28, 2023 | Not Rated

Starring: Bebé Smith, Daniella Carter, Dominique Silver, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell

Summary: Four Black transgender sex workers explore the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves while confronting issues long avoided.

Director: D. Smith

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 73 min

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Critic Reviews

Liam Lacey

Jul 27, 2023

Kokomo City is a vibrant, original work, shot in black and white, in a kaleidoscopic blend of monologues, conversations, and re-enactments. At a moment when the American right are obsessed with criminalizing health care for transgender people and erasing Black history, it’s also timely. Read full review

Michael Rechtshaffen

Aug 4, 2023

A constantly surprising, undeniably entertaining portrait that proves anything but monochromatic. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz

Jul 28, 2023

Imaginatively edited, sexually explicit, and filled with eloquent and often boisterous individuals of a sort who rarely get to claim a spotlight in documentaries, the trans sex worker portrait Kokomo City is a blast of creative freedom in an increasingly corporatized period of nonfiction filmmaking. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Jan 28, 2023

The questions may not be pre-approved by GLAAD, but they’re coming from a trans woman actively working against the usual feel-good talking points; the responses she gets are frank, funny and frequently shocking. Read full review

David Lewis

Jul 27, 2023

Raw, provocative, sometimes humorous and always humane, Kokomo City is an engrossing documentary about four Black trans sex workers who constantly disarm with their outrageous anecdotes and their palpable fears of living in a world that’s often hostile to them. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jul 12, 2023

Kokomo City is eye-and-ear-opening and mind-expanding and easily the most colorful black and white documentary you’re going to see this year. Guaranteed. Read full review

Diego Semerene

Jul 24, 2023

The film’s most significant accomplishment is the mood it crafts with its cool black-and-white images, fast-paced editing, unorthodox camera angles, handheld camera, and overall jazzy atmosphere. Read full review

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TVJerry

Aug 8, 2023

The first scene features 1 of the 4 featured Black trans sex workers talking about a potentially lethal encounter with a trick (they call them "clients"). From there, this doc features these women discussing their experiences in very frank and expletive-laden vernacular. It also includes aThe first scene features 1 of the 4 featured Black trans sex workers talking about a potentially lethal encounter with a trick (they call them "clients"). From there, this doc features these women discussing their experiences in very frank and expletive-laden vernacular. It also includes a few men who have a personal connection with the workers. D. Smith, who shot (in black & white), directed and edited, uses an arty, yet gritty style that perfectly suits the subject. This cinematic exploration of their lives also addresses their issues with acceptance by the Black community. This doc proves a fascinating, hold-holds-barred discussion of these women's joys and struggles, but it does get repetitive and even at 1:15 could have been shorter.… Expand

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