KOKOMO CITY Reviews
... An intense, stark, and vibrant chronicle that's brutally honest and open-hearted. [Full review in Spanish]
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 12, 2024
A documentary full of true [full review in Spanish]
Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 6, 2024
One of the most vibrant and essential pieces of queer cinema in recent memory.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 24, 2024
Hilarious, heartfelt, political, and playful.
Full Review | Feb 13, 2024
These women have a vital vantage point on a society that values their bodies but won’t promise them safety. It’s hard to imagine a more urgent and worthy documentary out now.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 7, 2024
This movie makes an argument that there are a lot more trans, and “trans attracted” people than most realize or will admit. This movie attempts to humanize these people and to uncover the cloak of secrecy that surrounds them. It succeeds in doing so.
Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 27, 2024
Brutally candid sex-talk film.
Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jan 14, 2024
An incisive and serious-minded film, yet one that's never less than respectful, hopeful and alive.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 19, 2023
The words these women share are crucial to not only putting their truth on record, but also educating against propaganda and comforting those too afraid to follow in their footsteps.
Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 1, 2023
A raw, brave, and heart-wrenching glimpse into the world of Black transgender sex workers—captivating and unflinchingly honest.
Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Nov 27, 2023
The most refreshing surprise of Kokomo City is that almost all of the interviews and interviewees have a positive, jovial vibe.
Full Review | Nov 16, 2023
It’s a truism that the strongest docs are made by people who have the best access to their subjects, and no one can fill the bill better than Smith.
Full Review | Sep 22, 2023
A compelling debut from a director with clear vision, this intimate and funny documentary is a quotable, memeable, memorable slice of American Queerama.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2023
[Director D. Smith’s] achievement is memorable and significant.
Full Review | Aug 24, 2023
A beautifully shot quartet on experiences of Black trans women.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 22, 2023
For her feature film directorial debut, Smith aimed to elevate her subject's voices not just as an expression of queer experience, but of the wider Black experience, as well... a testament to individual truth within a dichotomy that has no space for it.
Full Review | Aug 21, 2023
A very interesting film about a sliver of the trans community.
Full Review | Aug 17, 2023
Kokomo City is an angry, passionate, proud declaration of taking up space in a world that has taken away the agency of these women.
Full Review | Aug 14, 2023
Kokomo City is that welcome achievement that more than holds its own as a well-made addition to the genre and swings open the doors on a world well worth stepping into and celebrating.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 14, 2023
Kokomo City is bursting with energy that makes it engrossing even when the narrative feels a bit scattered at times. It doesn’t attempt to tie the topic into a neat bow at the end, which will leave the audience with a lot to digest once the credits roll.
Full Review | Original Score: B | Aug 13, 2023