Beach Rats

Frankie is a restless teenager living on the outskirts of Brooklyn, hemmed in by his family and a volatile circle of friends. His father is dying, his mother pressures him about girlfriends, and his days drift between the beach, his delinquent crew and a tentative relationship with a young woman named Simone. Beneath all that, he is wrestling with his own identity, secretly seeking out older men through hookup sites. Pulled between the expectations around him and desires he cannot reconcile, he edges toward a decision that forces him to confront who he is.

Beach Rats is an American drama directed and written by Eliza Hittman, her second feature, following her debut and preceding Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Harris Dickinson leads the cast as Frankie, with Madeline Weinstein, Kate Hodge, Neal Huff, Nicole Flyus and Frank Hakaj in supporting roles. The film runs 99 minutes and was produced by Animal Kingdom, Cinereach and Secret Engine.

Its critical reception was notably stronger than its audience scores: a critics' rating of 7.2 out of 10 from 109 reviews, compared with 6.4 out of 10 on IMDb from around 18,000 votes and 6.1 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 600 votes. That gap suggests reviewers responded more warmly to Hittman's intimate, observational approach than general viewers, though the film found a sizable audience nonetheless.