Only The Young

California Christian Teens

Skateboarders Garrison and Kevin, and Garrison's on-and-off girlfriend, Skye, are in many ways living the archetypical American teen life. Growing up in the small southern California town of Santa Clarita, they hang out, listen to punk music, change their hairstyles (and hair colors) and complain about living in a place with nothing to do. They explore friendship, discover first love (and heartbreak) and dream about the future. They are unconventional, perhaps, because they combine their Christian faith with American teen culture. They also show remarkable candor in front of the camera.

As beautifully and vividly captured in the new documentary Only the Young, something else is different-the America around them. Foreclosed homes, empty swimming pools, trashy underpasses and a closed mini golf course form much of the visual poetry of Garrison and Kevin's daily skates around town. As high school graduation approaches, these signs of a nation in economic turmoil become dramatic realities that complicate the teens' relationships and their hopes for the future.