Kill Your Darlings 
Directed by John Krokidas
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classic
Director John Krokidas’s debut film, Kill Your Darlings, attempts to trace the extraordinary lives and accomplishments of the beat generation back to their roots—college.
The film is set during the tail-end of World War II and follows a young Allen Ginsburg (Daniel Radcliffe) as he goes from taking care of his ill mother to studying at Columbia.
There he meets an older student, Lucien Carr (Dane Dehaan). Lucien takes him under his wing and pulls him into a life filled with sex, drugs, and debauchery. While Lucien introduces Allen to all that New York City has to offer, they befriend two other notable members of the beat generation—William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac.
Amidst the debauchery, the four set out to subvert the literary regime of their time by writing a manifesto known as a “The New Vision.” Their fun is cut short as Allen’s feelings begin to move beyond friendship and Lucien’s friend-turned-stalker David Kammerer grows increasingly obsessive and violent.
Though Ginsburg is the focus of the movie, one can’t help but be drawn to Dehaan’s magnetic portrayal of Lucien Carr. This is both because of Radcliffe’s inability to yet break away from his Harry Potter past (the glasses don’t help) and because of Carr’s compelling storyline. Dehaan steals every scene he is in and the chemistry between Ginsburg and Carr is palpable.
Burroughs and Kerouac, played by Ben Foster and Jack Huston respectively, have far smaller roles but still stand out. Michael C. Hall in his role as Kammerer manages to create the only real tension in the entire film.
Based on a true story that ends in tragedy, the film weaves together fact and fiction. It is hard to make out what falls into which category—especially when the events of the film have been scrutinized by those involved and by a number of others since then. Still, the film does a good job of setting the scene in the 1950s with cramped wallpapered houses and the dark jazz bars where the characters go to play.
Where the film falls short is in its pacing. It ambles along without any real purpose from event to event and focuses too long on small unimportant moments while breezing through key plot points.
Despite this flaw, however, the film was a slick and enjoyable depiction of a brief period in the early lives of the beat generation.
