Gummo (1997)

Harmony Korine’s Gummo (1997) is not a traditional film in any sense. There is no clear narrative, no central protagonist, and certainly no feel-good resolution. Instead, it is a series of loosely connected vignettes depicting life in the tornado-stricken town of Xenia, Ohio. Unapologetically bleak, raw, and experimental, Gummo forces its audience to confront the grotesque and mundane aspects of poverty, youth, and cultural decay in small-town America.

Detailed Summary

Introduction: A Town Already Torn Apart

The film opens with narration explaining that a tornado devastated the town of Xenia, Ohio, killing many residents and leaving behind a community that never quite recovered. The setting itself—gray, dirty, and desolate—is its own character. There’s no exposition to guide you; you’re dropped into a world where everything feels broken. The first scenes set the tone, with boys riding bikes through trashed neighborhoods and children shooting stray cats for money. It’s jarring, anarchic, and hyper-real.

Solomon and Tummler

The two most consistently recurring characters are Solomon (Jacob Reynolds) and Tummler (Nick Sutton), adolescent boys who spend their days killing cats and selling them to a local butcher. Their bond is less friendship and more survival. Their actions are violent and disturbing, but the film offers no moralizing. Instead, it presents their world as it is: numb, cruel, and directionless.

Bunny Boy and Peripheral Characters

Throughout the film, we’re introduced to several other characters: Bunny Boy, a silent figure in pink bunny ears and white shorts who skateboards through the town; Solomon’s mother, who gives him a bath while narrating a confusing story about macaroni and cheese; a pair of sisters who live in isolation, engaging in disturbing games; a mute girl being sexually abused by her grandmother. None of these stories resolve. They’re moments, fragments, hints of lives shattered or malformed.

Vignettes Without Closure

There’s no forward momentum in Gummo. Scenes occur out of order, disconnected in space and time. A boy lifts weights in a garage while drinking chocolate milk. A young man tells a story about drowning his mother’s cat. A group of kids wrecks a car in a junkyard. These moments exist simply to be observed. Korine’s goal isn’t to build tension or tell a story—it’s to immerse you in a place and a feeling.

Movie Ending

The film ends as abruptly as it began. In the final sequence, Solomon and Tummler walk through a field in slow motion while Roy Orbison’s haunting “Crying” plays in the background. It’s a strangely poetic, melancholic ending to a film that otherwise refuses sentimentality. Bunny Boy silently skates in circles. No redemption is offered. No arcs are completed. Nothing is solved. The town remains decayed, its youth just as lost, violent, and directionless as before.

By ending with this melancholic montage, Korine emphasizes that these characters are trapped in a loop of despair and boredom. There is no future for them, no final moment of hope. It’s one of the boldest non-endings in indie film, leaving viewers with a lingering, uncomfortable silence.

Are There Post-Credits Scenes?

No, Gummo does not have any post-credits scenes. The film ends on its final image and fades to black, staying true to its tone—unpolished, abrupt, and unapologetic.

Type of Movie

Gummo is best described as an experimental drama or avant-garde slice-of-life film. It contains strong elements of docufiction, nihilism, and Southern Gothic surrealism, with a structure that intentionally defies conventional storytelling.

Cast

• Jacob Reynolds as Solomon
• Nick Sutton as Tummler
• Chloë Sevigny as Dot
• Darby Dougherty as Helen
• Jacob Sewell as Bunny Boy
• Linda Manz as Solomon’s Mother
• Harmony Korine (uncredited cameo)

Much of the cast includes non-professional actors, many of whom were discovered by Korine on the streets or in skate parks, contributing to the film’s raw, documentary-like feel.

Film Music and Composer

There is no traditional film score. Instead, Gummo features an eclectic, aggressive, and sometimes disturbing soundtrack, including:

• Death metal (Burzum, Eyehategod)
• Folk music
• Roy Orbison’s “Crying”
• Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”

The contrast between musical styles further emphasizes the surreal and fragmented nature of the film.

Filming Locations

Though set in Xenia, Ohio, the movie was actually shot in and around Nashville, Tennessee. Korine chose Nashville neighborhoods that had a similar post-industrial, forgotten-town look. The location plays a key role in the film—its decaying homes, graffiti-filled walls, and muddy fields mirror the broken emotional and cultural lives of its residents.

Awards and Nominations

Gummo did not receive mainstream awards, but it has developed a strong cult following and is frequently discussed in academic and indie film circles. It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was nominated for several Independent Spirit Awards. Despite mixed critical reception at release, it is now considered a seminal work in underground cinema.

Behind the Scenes Insights

• Korine wrote the screenplay in just four days.
• Much of the film was improvised or unscripted.
• The bathroom scene with the spaghetti and bathwater was based on a real childhood memory of Korine.
• The scene with the chair-wrestling brothers was completely unscripted.
• Jacob Reynolds actually wore prosthetic teeth to enhance the eerie look of his character.
• The cat scenes sparked controversy, though Korine maintained that no animals were harmed and fake cats were used for violent scenes.
• Bunny Boy was a last-minute addition to the cast and was not part of the original script.

Inspirations and References

• Inspired heavily by Korine’s childhood in Nashville.
• Influenced by Larry Clark’s Kids (which Korine wrote).
• A visual and thematic nod to Werner Herzog, Terrence Malick, and Italian neorealism.
• Shares thematic DNA with Flannery O’Connor’s Southern Gothic stories.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

There are no known alternate endings. However, numerous deleted scenes exist, mostly due to the film’s improvisational nature. Some cut scenes include more disturbing content that was removed for pacing and to avoid an NC-17 rating.

One notable cut segment reportedly involved a boy building a shrine to a dead dog, which was deemed too bleak even for the final cut.

Book Adaptations and Differences

Gummo is not based on a book, though Korine later released the original screenplay in book format. It serves more as a poetic collection of ideas and dialogue than a traditional script. The movie diverges from even this document, as much of the film was changed or improvised on set.

Memorable Scenes and Quotes

Key Scenes

• The bathtub scene where Solomon eats spaghetti in dirty water while his mom sings.
• Bunny Boy skateboarding silently through empty lots.
• Tummler and Solomon talking about their dead friends and cats while lying on a couch.
• The wrestling scene between brothers with folding chairs and shouting matches.
• The awkward and disturbing scene in the hair salon involving a mentally challenged boy.

Iconic Quotes

• Solomon: “I had a friend once who died. He only ate snow. He didn’t like food. He just ate snow.”
• Tummler: “You can smell cat piss in the hallways.”
• Solomon’s Mom: “You’re my baby, Solomon. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Easter Eggs and Hidden Details

• The bunny ears worn by Bunny Boy are a subtle reference to loss of innocence and outsider identity.
• The Madonna song was used without official clearance—Korine later stated he never intended to profit from the film.
• Several non-actors play versions of themselves, including the real-life bodybuilder and the child with Down syndrome.

Trivia

• Korine cast many actors off the street just minutes before filming.
• The film cost under $2 million to make.
• The disturbing realism led many to mistakenly believe it was a documentary.
• Bunny Boy became a cult symbol and was even referenced in street art and fashion.

Why Watch?

You don’t “watch” Gummo for plot, resolution, or escape. You experience it to be confronted. If you’re interested in avant-garde filmmaking, outsider narratives, and films that push the limits of what cinema can be, this is essential viewing. It’s also a fascinating time capsule of late-90s alt-culture aesthetics, from its lo-fi style to its use of extreme metal and skate punk subcultures.

Director’s Other Movies

• Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)
• Mister Lonely (2007)
• Trash Humpers (2009)
• Spring Breakers (2012)
• The Beach Bum (2019)

Recommended Films for Fans

• Kids (1995) – written by Harmony Korine, directed by Larry Clark
• Trash Humpers (2009) – also by Korine
• Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)
• Pink Flamingos (1972) – for fans of transgressive cinema
• Elephant (2003) – directed by Gus Van Sant
• The Florida Project (2017)
• American Honey (2016)