Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About a Kid Named Laroi premiered Feb. 29 on Prime Video.
BY LARISHA PAUL | FEBRUARY 29, 2024
The Kid LAROI races against an invisible hourglass in his documentary Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About a Kid Named Laroi, now streaming on Prime Video. Directed by Michael D. Ratner, the feature follows the 20-year-old singer and rapper as he tours the world and begins to craft his debut album, The First Time. But between the time he spends away from his home in Sydney, Australia and the friends he’s lost to both death and distance, the musician has a lot of mental anguish to sift through.
Kids Are Growing Up finds Laroi beginning to make sense of bits and pieces of it all. “Money, fame, dreams coming true — that doesn’t resolve problems. It doesn’t stop them from happening. If anything, they just come on a bigger scale,” he explains in the film. “But I do tell myself every day, ‘Be grateful. Look at what you’ve got. Be Happy.'”
But that mantra becomes harder to repeat at his lowest moments. In one scene, Laroi details his battle with suicidal ideation, something he says he has experienced since childhood. “I definitely think the whole famous thing amplified it way more,” he admits. When the pressure became too much, he reached out for help. Having a therapist became an outlet for the musician, who also details repressed grief and trauma throughout the documentary.