D. Smith’s rocking documentary Kokomo City spotlights the lives of Black transgender sex workers in America with an unerring frankness, indomitable energy, and flavourful wit.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2024

... An intense, stark, and vibrant chronicle that's brutally honest and open-hearted. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 12, 2024

A documentary full of true [full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 6, 2024

One of the most vibrant and essential pieces of queer cinema in recent memory.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 24, 2024

Hilarious, heartfelt, political, and playful.

| Feb 13, 2024

These women have a vital vantage point on a society that values their bodies but won’t promise them safety. It’s hard to imagine a more urgent and worthy documentary out now.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 7, 2024

This movie makes an argument that there are a lot more trans, and “trans attracted” people than most realize or will admit. This movie attempts to humanize these people and to uncover the cloak of secrecy that surrounds them. It succeeds in doing so.

| Original Score: B | Jan 27, 2024

Brutally candid sex-talk film.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 14, 2024

An incisive and serious-minded film, yet one that's never less than respectful, hopeful and alive.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 19, 2023

The words these women share are crucial to not only putting their truth on record, but also educating against propaganda and comforting those too afraid to follow in their footsteps.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 1, 2023

A raw, brave, and heart-wrenching glimpse into the world of Black transgender sex workers—captivating and unflinchingly honest.

| Original Score: B+ | Nov 27, 2023

The most refreshing surprise of Kokomo City is that almost all of the interviews and interviewees have a positive, jovial vibe.

| Nov 16, 2023

It’s a truism that the strongest docs are made by people who have the best access to their subjects, and no one can fill the bill better than Smith.

| Sep 22, 2023

A compelling debut from a director with clear vision, this intimate and funny documentary is a quotable, memeable, memorable slice of American Queerama.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 3, 2023

[Director D. Smith’s] achievement is memorable and significant.

| Aug 24, 2023

A beautifully shot quartet on experiences of Black trans women.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 22, 2023

For her feature film directorial debut, Smith aimed to elevate her subject's voices not just as an expression of queer experience, but of the wider Black experience, as well... a testament to individual truth within a dichotomy that has no space for it.

| Aug 21, 2023

A very interesting film about a sliver of the trans community.

| Aug 17, 2023

Kokomo City is an angry, passionate, proud declaration of taking up space in a world that has taken away the agency of these women.

| Aug 14, 2023

Kokomo City is that welcome achievement that more than holds its own as a well-made addition to the genre and swings open the doors on a world well worth stepping into and celebrating.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 14, 2023