The Kid Detective (2020)

Language : English

Director : Evan Morgan

Writers : Evan Morgan

Cast : Kaitlyn Chalmers-Rizzato, Adam Brody, Kaleb Horn

Genre :  Comedy | Drama | Mystery 

Imdb: The Kid Detective (2020)

Streaming on Youtube.

It’s not every day a good whodunit film passes by me. Oh no! Not a chance! I’d be pretty quick on gorging any and all whodunits that seemingly float by my search recommendations or chance encounters. And most whodunits that are good are anyway covered by all film lists and videos that have the internet hooked on spam. So, it was out of the ordinary when I ran into a Canadian film quite pg 13ly titled, The Kid Detective on some shady advert filled site giving movie recommendations.

I thought to myself, not another Nancy Drew movie and gave it a pass. Another day, at another time, I saw it listed under top 500 movies of the year 2020, and then I thought to myself – ‘oh well! The movie found itself recognised’, I spent a few seconds considering checking it out and passed it aside. (Fool me twice, jokes on me!)

Finally, after months of denial, I finally watched The Kid Detective. And it is without “hesitation” my favourite movie of the year so far.

The delay in watching and my low expectations made it all the more wholesome a cinematic experience.

The Kid Detective is such a deceiving movie in more ways than one. At the surface, it might seem like a kiddy film. A few scratches within, you discover it’s more mature than it so apparently presents itself to be. But when you take that bite into a mere few minutes into the movie, you are sold – Hook, Line, and Sinker. 

Fashioning itself as a Whodunit, the movie has several layers to its elegance; in the way, it blends bitter realism into an environment that incrementally starts losing its hope to desperation. Yet, it is at no point exhausting nor depressing. A unique brand of comedy keeps the atmosphere light despite the staggering odds piling against the character you are cheering for. 

It is a better “coming of age” film than any other film that specifically intends that sole purpose. 

The now grown-up protagonist, The Detective has to grow out of the phase of being a successful detective as a child. The world has changed, people have changed, and in this transient structure lays a middle-aged man trapped in the zeitgeist of an erstwhile era. The film is so affably relatable… honestly a bit too much!

We all cherish our primes, our highs, that it becomes difficult at times to just come to terms with the new, the present. We age, things pass by us in the blink of an eye. Likewise, darkness and gloom are temporary too…

Filled with moments of introspection, elements of tight suspense, and somber realizations that got me mildly weeping, The Kid Detective is about heart and redemption. As we join a metaphorical journey with our protagonist towards acceptance. The end whilst tear-jerking, I assure you it’s a happy ending. Like the one that got us all crying like toddlers after watching the end of “The Pursuit of Happyness”

Verdict – 7/7 stars