TEENAGERS PRIORITIZE THEIR LIVES AFTER THEIR FRIENDS SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST
★★★★★ (A Must-See)
Director: Brian Duffield
2020
I have an aversion to cinematic love stories, but I'm willing to make an exception for Spontaneous, the most romantic horror film since Shaun risked life and limb to whisk Liz back to the Winchester. This hilarious, moving, and tension-filled story about a sudden onset of student explosions at a non-descript high school is a lesson for its target teen audience, who assume life as a grownup will be staying up all night and having no problems. Even adults who enjoy the anxiety of Battle Royale, favor flicks with buckets of blood, or are PMSing and looking for a movie to make them cry will be more than satisfied. Spontaneous is a beautiful, gory film for all ages and genders and film preferences.
High school senior, Mara (Katherine Langford) is a witty and sarcastic hell-cat who sweetly tears down anyone in her path. This opinionated girl and her best friend, Tess (Hayley Law), spend their days scanning real estate websites while dreaming of their future beach house. These plans are called into question when one boring afternoon—out of nowhere and without warning—a girl explodes in one of Mara's classes. The feds come in to investigate and kids are interviewed, but no one can explain what happened to the unfortunate girl. Soon after, Mara receives a "dick pic" in the form of Richard Nixon's photo from a secret admirer who asks her out. This boy reveals himself to be Dylan (Charlie Plummer), a shy, awkward Romeo who approaches her with the feeble gusto of a virgin trying to unhook a bra.
At first, Mara dismisses the first deaths, treating them as humorous or bothersome, but after dozens of kids start combusting at random times, she begins to realize she or Tess could be next. The pressure also allows Mara to give into Dylan's geeky charms; they're a great match, and not because the world might be ending. Dylan adores Mara's rough edges, and Mara lets his open vulnerability (something she most certainly does not have) worm its way into her heart.
All the students in the movie find ways to cope as doctors, the FBI, and families are powerless to help. Like Emma Stone's character in Easy A, Mara has "cool" parents with comedic banter and open minds (they give the girl pot for Christmas when it become apparent it will be her last). I really would have liked to see Mom and Dad's point of view, but their inner turmoil would have been far too heavy for a spontaneous combustion comedy. Mara's parents can do nothing but keep a strong upper lip as their daughter lashes out while waiting for the inevitable.
“DYLAN ADORES MARA’S ROUGH EDGES, AND MARA LETS HIS OPEN VULNERABILITY (SOMETHING SHE MOST CERTAINLY DOES NOT HAVE) WORM ITS WAY INTO HER HEART.”
For these vulnerable teens, the story cruelly dashes the idea that the universe is fair. I had a 10th grade history teacher named Mr. Wolf, who told us that if we get pulled over by a cop after driving over the speed limit with a group of cars who are also going over the speed limit, we should never point out to the officer that the others are speeding, too. "He'll laugh," Mr. Wolf said. "You're the one who got caught. Life will always be unfair." That stuck with me. Anytime I almost blurted, "That's not fair" I thought of what he said and stopped myself. As remaining seniors of the movie's unfortunate high school express survivor's guilt and blame themselves in order to find meaning in what's happening, they slowly figure out it's no one's fault. Life's simply not fair.
There are a few small problems with the film, like the Big Bad Pharmaceutical angle that never comes to anything or the mopey third act that could have easily been cut by ten minutes, but you barely notice these strange blips. Spontaneous isn't just about funny one-liners or engaging shots or likable characters; these random explosions are an obvious metaphor for impending adulthood and the randomness (and existential terror) of death. This film reminded me of A Ghost Story in that the moral is to not waste a single moment, or believe that we are special. The point of Spontaneous is to teach its audience that the end can come for any of us at any time—which is happening to someone out there this very second.
GENRES: Diverse Characters, Feminist-Friendly, Funny, LGBTQ+, Teens in Peril
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