Popular reviews

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  Review by Realkinoshit ★★★★½

  2023 Women Make Waves int'l Film Festival #3

  “Everyone is so worried about who is fucking who when at the end of the day they all want to fuck each other. That’s the whole tea.”
  
  Drake the type of guy who yells, "Go girls!" in the theater while watching this 💅💅💅

  Kokomo City, the documentary crafted by filmmaker D. Smith, delivers a captivating and unapologetically candid portrayal. It places the spotlight on four Black trans sex workers, namely Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver, situated in both Atlanta and New York City. Together in this film, they courageously dismantle the barriers of their profession. With unwavering transparency, the film pulsates with dynamism, sensuality, resilience, and the invaluable knowledge born of their experiences.

  *Quotes after quotes 🗣️🗣️🗣️
  *The soundtrack didn't need to go that hard 😭
  *R.I.P. Koko Da Doll, you'll always be remembered 🫡

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  Review by kevinyang ★★★★

  A talking heads doc featuring subjects so compelling and charismatic, and filmmaking so vibrant and energetic, that you often forget that's the kind of doc you're watching. It's very short, so it doesn't have the real estate to go much further as a project beyond simply letting these women tell their stories, but it doesn't really need to. A moving, hilarious, and enlightening watch that packs a strong punch for such a tight timeframe. Beautiful black and white photography as well, with a hell of a final shot.

  GRADE: B+

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱

  This week, I saw Kokomo City through MUBI Go. It's about sex workers who are black and trans. As they recount their harrowing experiences, it becomes clear that their profession while profitable is incredibly dangerous.

  The day after I saw it in the theater, I read that O'Shae Sibley was murdered in NYC after voguing to Beyoncé. While Sibley was unrelated to the documentary, it is clear that LGBT rights must be protected. What is it about members of the LGBT community that people are quick to bully and even murder them?

  It is sad, but that is why this documentary is all the more important to check out right now.

  Addendum: I found out that Koko Da Doll, who was featured in the film was fatally shot in April 2023. Rest in peace.

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  Review by Drew Burnett Gregory ★★★★

  This was very clearly made for a cis audience (a cis Black audience specifically) but it really shows the difference between a trans doc made for cis people by cis people and a trans doc made for cis people by trans people. Shocking: the latter is much better!

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  Review by claira curtis ★★★★½

  Stunning in both its distinct visual style and how vulnerable its central figures get in discussing the intersectionality of being Black trans women who work in the sex industry. The feel of Kokomo City is so electric and compelling, it’s a real feast for the heart and the mind. The value of immortalizing these women’s experiences is hard to quantify fully. Would have been a poignant watch in its own right, but there’s parts of this that had me breaking down hard in the wake of Koko Da Doll’s death. She was such a beautiful, intelligent woman and the world lacks in the wake of losing her.

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  Review by Travis Thomas ★★★★

  Women Talking

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  Review by Rafa Sales Ross ★★★★

  In a swift 70 minutes, first-time director D. Smith dissects the stigma of sex work, racism, transphobia, homophobia, and more through a gorgeously shot and edited patchwork of intimate testimonials imbued with loving empathy. Illuminating, fresh, kind. A stunning final shot, too.

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  Review by Cooper D ★★★★

  Wowowowow I loved that. Funny, powerful, energetic, electric. RIP Koko Da Doll ☹️

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  Review by SupremeLemon (지존레몬) ★★★

  A compelling form of self-assurance in which every decision and declaration is brimming with maturity and perspective, confidently vulnerable yet effervescently charming with its courageous candor.

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  Review by Kyle Turner ★★★★½ 1

  its radical honesty as stark and piercing as its high contrast black and white cinematography.

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  Review by Mitchell Beaupre ★★★★

  Sundance 2023: #20

  A simple idea — put a camera on four Black trans sex workers and let them tell their stories. The result? A bold and beautiful expression of love for womanhood, transness, Blackness, and the intersecting communities between them. A full meal in 73 minutes.

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  Review by KMeeks ★★★★

  "They're there to exploit us, to fetishize us. And so whatever we face as a reality, once we leave that experience that benefited them, they don't give a fuck."

  The above quote is just a short bit of the bathtub monologue from Daniella Carter, one of the best moments of any documentary I've ever watched.

  The documentary as a whole is quite strong as well, mostly because of how much D. Smith allows the four main subjects to shine. These women are funny and honest and demand every second of your attention. I did think while watching that my biggest issue was with some of the directorial choices. Granted, it is a debut, but the choice to often cut to…