Spontaneous

Very dark comedy combines with a heart felt coming of age drama to incredible effect in this surprise and explosive movie.

A boring math class in an average high school. Senior Mara, played by Katherine Langford, drops her pencil on the floor. She leans over to pick it up. In that moment the girl sitting in front of her explodes. She just goes pop spraying the entire classroom in blood. Mara sits up back to find her entire world changed.

One by one the kids in this one math class inexplicably go pop throughout the film. Mara and her best friend Tess, played by Hayley Law use humor to deal with the stress and trauma of never knowing who could be next. Mara falls for the cute Dylan, played by Charlie Plummer and their very sweet relationship makes up the best escape from the exploding kids surrounding them.

The movie is surprising. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it, but it really won me over with its mix of sweet and sardonic. From the first kid exploding to the way Mara and Dylan’s relationship unfolds, to the various coping mechanisms Mara uses the film consistently surprised me. It found some wiggle room within the traditional three act structure and created a really fun and thought provoking ride.

I really loved the way the teenagers are written. They are messy. They can be smug and too self assured. They maintain a feeling of invincibility in the face of certain death. It really captures the teenage experience.

The dark as night humor really worked for me too. The sight gag of gallons of blood spraying all over a classroom was really funny to me. And the razor sharp dialogue and asides from Mara and her friends ring genuine laughs out of a horribly macabre set up.

The film was written and directed by first time director Brian Duffield. He brings a playfulness and inventiveness to the story. The characters have overlapping voice overs and often turn to the camera to directly address the audience in order to fill out the story. It’s a lot of fun to see someone having fun with the medium.

This movie really worked for me. It pulled me in and kept me there. It doesn’t reveal deep truths about life and the world, but it has a lot more on its mind than gross out dark humor. It takes the implications of its premise seriously and tells a really compelling story with its high concept.

It’s streaming on Amazon prime. I just happened to stumble across it last night, and I hope you do too. It’s my cup of tea. A-