The DePaulia
Lauren Coates, Staff Writer|April 5, 2021
Though Millie Bobby Brown has far and away proven herself as the breakout star among the gaggle of talented teens on “Stranger Things,” the rest of the show’s younger cast members have slowly but surely been breaking into the mainstream. Finn Wolfhard’s instantly-quotable turn in “It” gave him some serious clout beyond Netflix projects, and Gaten Matarazzo plays host to a hidden camera show, “Prank Encounters,” which is heading into its second season. But, perhaps taking the biggest genre leap since “Stranger Things” is Caleb McLaughlin, whose latest film “Concrete Cowboy” premiered on Netflix last Friday, April 2. Though McLaughlin’s spirited lead performance proves he has the juice to be a bona-fide movie star in the making, the film itself from a severe identity crisis and a lack of substantive direction. “Concrete Cowboy” touches on some intriguing concepts, certainly, but can never commit to picking one strong story and running with it – a weakness which results in a thoroughly mediocre end result.