CLERKS (1994)

Saturday 27 September is VIEW ASKEWNIVERSE DAY. We're showing four films in chronological order starting with Kevin Smith’s debut CLERKS - a landmark of independent cinema in the 1990s. Shot in black and white on a shoestring budget, it follows two store clerks through a single day of banter, boredom, and absurd customers.

CLERKS proved low-budget filmmaking could break through with sheer voice and wit. Its profanity-laced dialogue about movies, relationships, and philosophy influenced a generation of indie storytellers. Critics praised it for authenticity: the characters feel like real twenty-somethings stuck in dead-end jobs yet speaking with sharp, pop-culture-infused intelligence.

Today CLERKS is remembered not just as comedy, but as a generational snapshot of working-class malaise, a film that found profound humor in the ordinary.