The documentary film on Hulu, made by Bing Liu is called, "Minding the Gap." The film is about how skateboarding became both an escape valve and a kind of therapy for disadvantaged teenagers in the rust belt city of Rockford, Illinois. But the film goes beyond the skateboarding, and delves into the emotional lives of these kids over the course of about five years as they become adults and make lifechanging decisions. The filmmaker, also one of the teens, tackles the issues of fatherhood, domestic violence, divorce, depression, race, and crime in this gritty and honest self-portrait.
Also, the emotional turmoil is broken up by fast paced skateboarding scenes, as if you were on the skateboard. It feels like you're racing down steps, concrete barriers, hand rails, and other unlikely surfaces.
The film pulled me in and I couldn't stop watching it.
