I approached this expecting an explicit, controversial film for controversy's sake -- something disturbing and, let's face it, fabricated. I was surprised to find that yes, its aim is to make parents lock their children in their bedrooms for the next fifty years but also to truthfully examine modern-day childhood the way it really is.

I knew kids like this, who talked like this, who listened to the Beastie Boys and who bragged about anything sexual they could think of. This movie follows the adventures and sexual pursuits of Telly, an AIDS-infected young teen who goes around taking advantages of virgins.

We're led to believe Telly isn't aware of his disease but I think perhaps he does and gets off on possibly spreading it to others. One of his ex-girlfriends (Chloe Sevigny) becomes infected and spends the entire movie looking for Telly to warn him before he has sex with a young virgin.

The end of the movie is pretty tragic and quite sad really. Yes, it is wrapped a bit too nicely in the sense that all this stuff happens to one group of kids within a period of a day or so, but by compacting many events into one scenario director Larry Clark makes quite a compelling little film/semi-documentary.

One thing I should also mention is the dialogue, which I found to be the most realistic in any kid-starring film I've ever seen. He didn't just choose talented actors, he got the expressions, mannerisms and jargon perfected -- as a result it does come across as a very authentic, genuine film and even if you hate it, there's no denying it's pretty sickening. Whether you find that a good or bad thing is entirely up to you.

A group kids in NYC run wild in a world without adult supervision. Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) loves to deflower virgins. One of the girls he deflowered in the past is Jennie (Chloë Sevigny). She and her friend Ruby (Rosario Dawson) go to do a STD check. Ruby is clean but Jennie tests positive for HIV despite having had sex with only Telly.

I remember this was edgy at the time. It still is seeing this after 20 years. It has the documentary feel and mostly unknown amateur actors which only adds to its realism. Both Leo Fitzpatrick and Chloë Sevigny are amazing. I do forget that this is also Rosario Dawson's debut. Some of the other kids also put out raw performances. Harmony Korine's script has a real authenticity to it.

It might seem dated when watched almost 20 years after it came out, but it was showing a side of Kids that many movies were ignoring. There is the problem with identification (even more if you're not in the target group) and of course religious people or people with a threshold when it comes to sexuality and teenagers will have more than a few issues too (smoking and other drugs included).

But it is very well played, no matter what your opinion on the matter is. The end might either be exactly what you expected and somewhat rounds a very open story up pretty tightly. It may be hailed as one of the first roles of Rosario Dawson, but don't just watch it because of that, it's the others who shine in this. Kids these/those days ...