Kokomo City
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: July 28, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Original-CinLiam LaceyJul 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
91
IndieWireJude DryJan 28, 2023
Smith’s music and photography instincts carry the film cinematically, but the real stars of Kokomo City are its honest and dynamic subjects. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenAug 4, 2023
A constantly surprising, undeniably entertaining portrait that proves anything but monochromatic. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeFeb 17, 2023
Punchy delivery styles, shimmering personalities and kaleidoscopic perspectives make up the soul of D. Smith’s gutsy documentary Kokomo City Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJul 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
84
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJan 28, 2023
Hilarious, scary, tragic and sometimes flat-out jaw-dropping, Kokomo City is a gripping and accessible dissection of modern life, told through a brutally specific point of view. Read full review
80
Little White LiesMarina AshiotiAug 14, 2023
It culminates in a bold exploration of transness, womanhood, Blackness and the sex industry, providing thoughtful and intimate insight into these material conditions and the breadth of experience that lies behind them. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeAug 3, 2023
One can offer no greater compliment to D Smith’s examination of the black transgender experience than that it makes the viewer, however they identify, feel a welcomed part of the busy conversation. Read full review
80
Time OutCyrus CohenAug 2, 2023
For a film that is primarily focused on one person at a time, speaking directly to camera, it is never remotely dull. The lean 73-minute runtime gives Smith all the time she needs to conjure a poignant and personal ode to these four women, and the experiences of Black trans women more broadly. We rarely get to see that on screen this powerfully and unapologetically. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinAug 1, 2023
Truly, this covers the whole spectrum of experience, all of it eloquently explained by the subjects, an assortment of women who tell their truths about clients who can’t be honest with themselves, their complicated relationships with friends, family and cis women, the legacy of slave culture, and their favourite portable electric shavers. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 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
75
The Film StageEthan VestbyJul 28, 2023
The film is a little repetitive in its observations, even at the very brief runtime of 73 minutes, yet I still feel I’ll fondly remember its subjects and the glances into their lives. Just reckoning with a world so sad and the people willing to keep a straight face throughout is inspiring in its own right. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisJul 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
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 25, 2023
Kokomo City, D. Smith’s impressive debut documentary about Black trans sex workers, arrives in time to be an audacious, endearing, illuminating, often amusingly ribald primer. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 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
70
The New York TimesTeo BugbeeJul 27, 2023
Most important, Daniella, Koko, Liyah and Dominique provide a record of their own extraordinary lives, one that resonates with clarity and compassion. Read full review
70
Screen DailyAmber WilkinsonJan 28, 2023
As with a lot of first-time feature filmmakers, Smith shows a tendency to want to throw everything a her film stylistically – including, at one point, the random use of bright yellow subtitles – which makes certain sections feel unnecessarily skittish. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAug 2, 2023
Smith presents the danger as the cumulative effect of being trans and Black and a sex worker in America. However, that's not all that Smith is talking about. Read full review
67
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodJan 28, 2023
The subjects of Kokomo City are quote machines, but their strength is that they make you listen to what they are actually saying and digest their opinions. Oh, no, they are not just here to entertain you. Points will be made. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneJul 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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