Jonah Hill’s directorial debut was well received by critics and general moviegoers, but “Mid90s” still caught some flak for a particularly uncomfortable kissing scene that comes fairly early in the movie. In the scene, 13-year-old Stevie, aka Sunburn (Sunny Suljic), is at a party drinking and smoking with his friends when he meets Estee (Alexa Demie), who is obviously much older than him. Estee doesn’t mind Sunburn being younger, and she eventually takes him into a bedroom where the two of them have sex.
The scene has received some heavy criticism, even within the context of the rest of the movie. The fact that the actors kissed despite Suljic being just 11 years old at the time of filming led to a lot of conversation on Reddit, with u/Octoire writing: “I’m not even looking at Estee 100%, the actress does have her responsibility and she was completely in the wrong to go through with something so incredibly terrible, but why is no one holding Jonah Hill accountable?”
Hill addressed the scene during an interview with Slate magazine, saying that it was supposed to be an accurate depiction of how things were in the 1990s. “To me, showing it as harsh and as honest as it was back then was the point,” he said. “That sexuality at that time period, in this story that I’m telling, is not about two people connecting, which is what it should be about. It’s about the currency it gives you in a group of male friends at that age. And I feel that is something that is problematic, which is why I showed it so explicitly.”
