In the October 1993 issue of Variety (following the film’s premiere but predating its release), critic Todd McCarthy wrote a less-than-enthusiastic review, blurb here:

Gregg Araki ladles up a rather stale serving of gay teenage angst in “Totally F***ed Up.” Somewhat surprisingly slated for the New York Film Festival in the wake of its Toronto Fest world preem, this ultra-low-budget, Godardian “homo movie” feels like a step backward to his earlier group mopes rather than an advance beyond his provocative last film, “The Living End.”

Despite McCarthy’s intentions, the phrases “stale serving of gay teenage angst” and “ultra-low-budget, Godardian ‘homo movie'” are, regretably, catnip to this author’s ears.

Criticisms of the dialog and plot aside, to an architect the film offers a well-studied reflection on how to wander around alleys, empty lots, billboards, strip malls, and parking decks that reveals the curious social potential of these typical non-places, especially for vagabond teens. The film also presents an image of queer interiority through the bedrooms of the characters, lightly tailored to each personality. Thirty years later, we no longer need to evaluate Totally Fucked Up for its entertainment value or for its place in the arc of Araki’s work; it becomes a useful time capsule actually fulfilling the tone of its documentary-style editing: very 90s, very gay, very LA.

Select frames from the film reproduced below:

Totally Fucked Up / Gregg Araki (Writer, Director, Editor, Cinematographer) / 1994 / Strand Releasing / 78min