Skate Kitchen tells
the story of Camille (Rachelle Vinberg), a lonely girl living in the suburbs of
New York City with her single mother. Camille loves skate boarding and often
finds herself as the only girl at the neighborhood skatepark. When Camille has
an unfortunate accident, her mother makes her promise to give up skateboarding.
Even though Camille reluctantly makes the promise, she is quick to go behind
her mother’s back and continuing pursuing her passions. Camille’s whole world
seems to revolve around skateboarding. If she is not at the skatepark, she is
watching videos of skateboarding on Instagram or dreaming she was on her board
grinding rails. Skateboarding is where Camille feels happiest, but there is
still something holding her back from finding true bliss. One day Camille
stumbles upon an Instagram post for a girl’s skate session in New York City and
she quickly maps out the path, collects her last few dollars, and heads out.
Camille quickly befriends a group of female skaters who go
by Skate Kitchen. Kurt (Nina Moran) recognizes Camille from her own Instagram
skating posts and immediately wants her to hop on a board and show her talents.
As the girls skate across the streets of New York city, Ruby (Kabrina Adams)
follows suit with a camera glued in her hands documenting all the tricks,
stunts, and good times that they have together. As the days pass, Camille finds
herself going to New York city after her mom leaves for work and spending all
her free time with ladies of Skate Kitchen. The group is free spirited, a stark
contrast to the sheltered life and upbringing that Camille has experienced.
They spend their afternoons carelessly skating around the city, stopping at
different parks, recklessly skating through intersections, smoking marijuana,
and discussing life and the world around them. Camille slowly begins to open up
to her new friends, but unfortunately this comes at a cost as she keeps lying
to her mother about where she is spending her days. This seems like a small
price to pay as Camille has finally found her place and her people. 
At the heart of Skate
Kitchen is a story of personal growth and self-discovery. Writer/director
Crystal Moselle and writers Aslihan Unaldi and Jen Silverman introduce the
audience to the underground skating subculture of New York City’s skate scene. We
see how this group of young women are managing to make their mark in a typical
male dominated sport. Throughout Skate
Kitchen we see how Camille and her friends interact with one of the main
groups of male skaters in the area – usually tension filled affairs stemming
from a lack of mutual respect and sense of entitlement over turf. As times
passes Camille manages to befriend Devon (Jaden Smith) who brings her into his
group of male skaters and they eventually embrace her and her talents.
Camille just wants to skate and forget about all of the drama between these
groups of skaters, but that may not be as easy as she had hoped. Moselle
successfully displays the rawness of skateboarding through various close ups
and camera movements and contrasts that with the serenity and freedom that all
these characters are feeling while skateboarding with her song choices and slow
distance shots that capture moments of pure joy. Skate Kitchen is an interesting look at friendship, maturity, and
passion mixed with an insider glimpse at a skating culture that many have never
seen or experienced and is worth a watch.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
