Alex (Ani Mesa-Perez, also the film’s co-writer), a young woman from New Jersey, tries to escape a claustrophobic home life by running away with a rowdy band of hard-partying in-line skaters in Erin Vassilopoulos’ freeform but engaging drama, Destroy All Girls. The film’s provocative title comes from a message a niche Californian skatewear company once wove into their clothing line’s care labels as a joke, a sample of which is seen here. But it hints at how a low-key misogyny can sometimes be palpable under the surface in the skater dudes’ bro-centric culture, even if at first the guys seem pretty chill.

Even so, the film’s gaze is more anthropological than polemical, especially given the faux-doc vibe created by its abundant handheld camerawork, seemingly filmed sometimes by the actors themselves. Premiering in Locarno’s Cinema of the Present strand should give this a good launch on the rolling concrete ups and downs of the festival skatepark circuit.

First met in happier times rolling around the streets of a Jersey town just across the river from Manhattan, working-class Alex is especially close to her big brother Gabriel (Gil Perez-Abraham, who also collaborated with Mesa-Perez on the script, as did Flo Baumann and Vassilopoulos). Gabriel was a talented skater with access to the latest in skate designs, but an abrupt flashforward finds him paralyzed after a car accident, the particulars of which are explained later.

Alex, pointedly called Alexa by her mother (Florencia Lozano), who hates Alex’s tomboyish style, works in a bodega and looks after her brother a lot. Constantly bickering with her mother and burdened by her brother’s care at home, Alex finds joy mostly when she’s out skating herself, or filming others at the local skatepark with her minicam.

One day down at the park she meets Cameron (Dominic Bruce), a lanky white guy with an odd accent (he’s Scottish but with all the glottal stops and gutterals sanded down) who is a real showboat on the jumps and ramps. Cameron is the de facto leader of a little non-violent gang-ette that call themselves Prospers. Together, they travel from skate park to skate park, getting high often on weed and beer, and hoping that they’ll get taken up by a sponsor so they can compete out in California professionally. It’s not exactly clear how they support themselves, let alone afford the gas to run the refurbished short bus they live in, but maybe they sell the footage shot by Cole (Malcolm Heard) or deal a bit of drugs on the side. Who knows, maybe they have trust funds.  

Alex certainly doesn’t ask too many questions and is just happy to keep hanging out with them in New York and points beyond, living in the bus. She starts shooting the B-roll for Cole’s ongoing doc, and learns a few tricks from Cameron with whom she soon starts a romantic liaison, although he’s upfront about having a child with another woman.

While the script may have four names attached to it, the dialogue often feels spontaneous and semi-improvised and Vassilopoulos does a good job at relaxing the young cast so that they sound like regular zoomers as they banter and bicker. The road movie atmosphere may conjure features set in a similar milieu, like Andrea Arnold’s American Honey perhaps, or early Harmony Korine or Larry Clark movies, but with less tension or violence.

Indeed, not much really happens apart from skating and partying, the latter reaching its high pitch when Alex and Cameron take mushrooms and check into a motel room for a night of hallucinations and sex. But the voice messages from her family that Alex occasionally listens to start to pull her back to her old life. Will she go home or stay with sweet but self-absorbed Cameron? Alex’s androgynous dress sense suggests that she might not be that into him, and possibly may be more taken with lithe skater punk Silvia (Silvia Kambouridis, luminous in just a few scenes).

The resolution when it comes is satisfying if slight. The way Vassilopoulos and her team have chosen not to define things like Alex’s gender identity feels very of the open-ended, label-resistant ways of the younger generations. Identity here is very much in motion, much like the young athletes themselves.

As part of its push to get theaters to support their pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance has made offers to put CEO David Ellison’s pledge of 30 theatrical releases a year with a 90-day theatrical window in writing.

Three individuals with knowledge of the talks tell TheWrap that the company has told theater chains that it is willing to enter a bilateral agreement in which Paramount has pledged to release at least 30 films a year for three years after the merger with Warner Bros. is completed, with a minimum theatrical window of 45 days before release on premium video on-demand and 90 days before release on streaming.

Insiders say the offer has been key to earning the support of the two largest movie theater chains in the United States, AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas, as well as British theater chain Vue Cinemas, all of whom have released statements in favor of the merger.

In his statement released on Thursday, Regal Cinemas CEO Eduardo Acuna called on the movie theater industry at large, as well as California Attorney General Rob Bonta, to come to the negotiating table and iron out a deal. Exhibitors have only just begun to see a turnaround after years of pandemic and industry strike-induced box office slumps thanks to a slew of recent hits including “Michael,” “Toy Story 5,” “Obsession,” and most recently, the duo of “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

“It is time for all parties to sit down and work out how to formalize these commitments. With these measures in place, we believe that Paramount can be an effective steward of these studios that mean an enormous amount to people who love movies,” he wrote.

The binding deal offers have come as part of a larger push by Paramount Skydance to gather support from top entertainment executives for the merger and put pressure on Bonta and the 11 other state attorneys general who have sued to block the Paramount-WBD deal to reach a settlement ahead of a trial scheduled to take place in March 2027.

This past week, the United Kingdom’s antitrust division approved the merger despite signals from Culture Minister Lisa Nandy that she was considering intervening. This leaves the Bonta lawsuit as the last major hurdle before the deal would close.

While Paramount has gotten three theater chains on its side, executives from smaller theater chains have told TheWrap over the weekend anonymously that they still are deeply skeptical of Paramount and Ellison’s promises that the merger would improve the entertainment landscape, citing the dramatic decrease in theatrical output by the former 20th Century Fox since becoming 20th Century Studios following Disney’s acquisition in 2019.

Other concerns such as box office revenue splits and “clean screen” terms requiring exclusive play of a certain film for a specific amount of time, which Bonta’s lawsuit argues could become more unfavorable towards theaters in a more concentrated market, were also listed by these executives as reasons why they still oppose the merger despite the studio’s offers.

Trade organization Cinema United, which represents a wide range of theater chains, has come out in firm opposition to any acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and has expressed support for the Bonta lawsuit, but has also kept the door open for future negotiations with Paramount Skydance. An insider at the organization has told TheWrap that Cinema United sent a letter to Paramount Skydance in early July outlining its outstanding concerns regarding the merger but has not been in contact with the studio since.

Regal declined to comment beyond Acuna’s statement. TheWrap has reached out to Paramount for comment. The agreement offers were first reported by Bloomberg.