I thought this was going to be yet another young adult sci-fi entry, and well, I was kinda right… I guess? Most franchises like to start big and develop a fanbase. Then go back via unnecessary prequels and explore all of the nooks and crannies of the story in order to milk the franchise for all its worth. Kin feels like the filmmakers have a 6 movie arc laid out and a whole world built in their head, but they chose to lead with the boring prequel. Chronologically, this may make the most sense, but one doesn’t have to look too far to find examples of a franchise that may have died an early death if it led with its prequels…

The draw of Kin wasn’t a family drama. It was the intrigue of how the sci-fi elements would come into play with those family dynamics. Unfortunately, we just don’t get to see enough of the sci-fi. What is there seems cool and I would like to see more, but the rest of the movie was a color-by-number family relationship that plodded along in ways that weren’t unique. Having said that, I actually think this movie would be better if it dropped all of the sci-fi aspects and just focused on the family and how James Franco’s gangster squad terrorizes them. With a bit more investment into that storyline, the movie could have had a far greater impact.

Kin feels out of place in theaters and I can’t help but feel it would have been a perfect Netflix movie situated right next to the equally bad Bright. While I have no interest in a sequel, I wouldn’t mind hearing more of the Mogwai-produced score. It was easily the best part of the movie.