Destroy All Girls (Vassilopoulos, 2026) - Locarno Film Festival 2026
We are on the streets of New York City with nothing more than a pair of roller skates, a digital camera and good tunes to lead the way. In no other circumstance could we ever feel so young, wild and free. A reminder of youth, independence and having no desired or set path. The immersive experience we feel here is one in which only such a precisely crafted atmospheric film can produce.
From short films to her first feature length film, writer-director Erin Vassilopoulos brings her sophomore feature to the 2026 Locarno Film Festival. In Destroy All Girls, they bring us a coming of age, of sorts, tale. One young girl’s pain cannot stop her from pursuing her passion, even if she might not know what that be yet. Through ambient and evocative storytelling, Vassilopoulos takes their audience on a thrilling adventure on a pair of roller skates and a painted school bus.
Alex (Ani Mesa-Perez) lives at home with an unloving mother while she devotes her time to taking care of her injured brother. Having had enough of the dislike from her mother, Alex runs off and joins up with a band of inline street skaters. This newly found freedom seems easy at first. Needing nothing but her skates and camcorder to survive. Eventually, however, things become all too clear and the collision of family and identity set her down a new path. She must soon realize what she has done and understand she has to face the one thing she has never wanted to, herself.
It is a recognizable storyline, all coming of age films tend to be. But where Destroy All Girls succeeds is in how it brings us into the world and makes Alex a relatable character for young females and queer people today. Hiding who you really are in the vicinity of your own home and only having the chance to express yourself fully outside is something too many people must endure. As the world shaped by Vassilopoulos is claustrophobic in the interior of the home — with the shouting, the religion pushed down Alex’s throat, and the anger she receives from her mother — viewers feel a breath of fresh air when she escapes.
There is a different type of genre in everyone, if one can call it that when referencing people. In Alex, not only is this character crafted through its scripting and surroundings, but through Mesa-Perez’s portrayal. It takes a certain aura to represent a skater-girl and that is just what we need from the protagonist of such an intense yet calm story. She might not experience the most dramatic events, but what Alex takes on is much more personal. The love Alex has for her brother Gabriel (Gil Perez-Abraham) can be seen through their onscreen connection. The care each have in their eyes is immeasurable. This in turn is reversed when Mesa-Perez easily switches in the environment of the parents. Through great pain and suffering at home, and a long wild ride with complete strangers, Alex is given the chance to truly understand the world around her (or as much as she gets to explore) and understand her next path forward.
As we are taken on a familiar and yet unknown journey, it is important to acknowledge the skillful craft and creativity put into play. Giving us a further insight into the skater, as the characters film with their digital cameras, the audience gets to see this point of view, making it all the more immersive and complex.
Alex’s tale is shaped in the same structure but the personal journey she embarks on is unique. The craftsmanship behind the story and character brings a greater point of connection and allows empathy to develop within the viewer. Beginning as a person who knows not what her purpose is in life, Alex is — just as the viewer is too — taken on a journey around the big cities. As we witness this fore coming, the characters that she meets truly help guide her on the way to herself. The skaters she thinks are true friends will eventually show true colours, and special people make themselves known. All in the end we are given the chance to hope she finds out who she is, or at least finds her next path to follow.
With such a well-versed topic, Vassilopoulos brings a new angle to a typical story. Coming of age is never easy and we never truly ever stop changing. But in the depths, Destroy All Girls takes us on a unique journey of skaters, camcorders, and the path towards finding out who you want to be. Reminding us all what the punk skater phase is like, this sophomore feature does an impeccable job connecting us to its protagonist and giving us the chance to root for her.
Destroy All Girls premiered August 9, 2026, as part of the Locarno Film Festival’s ‘Concorso Cineasti del Presente’ section. With a brilliant story and talented portrayal, this film not only reminisces some skater elements from the past, but brings the coming of age into the present.
