One of the joys of the mainstream critical and box office success of Weapons is seeing how audiences of all sorts are recognizing how that film is allowed to be more than any one binding interpretation, and more so seeking out other films that can also do that — that can get into the messy sinews around loss and helplessness and do a deep excavation on where society happens to be at the moment.
The time is right for Brian Duffield’s underseen 2020 masterpiece Spontaneous to receive its flowers from the folks who may not even have known it was there. (That said, it was in the Top 10 of the Scene's 2020 Jim Ridley Memorial Film Poll, so do not doubt that intriguing and perceptive minds were consulted.)
The latest work of horror from 'Barbarian' writer-director Zach Cregger is now playing at Regal and AMC locations
Waylaid during the early days of COVID-19 and slipping out to a few drive-ins here and there, Spontaneous (like its equally amazing and forgotten sibling The Empty Man) is about loss, tragedy, the atrophy of a dying society, the student loan industrial complex, school shootings and the rage-fueled helplessness that America thrives on. That’s certainly ambitious, but the movie is also deeply funny and more than capable of holding its own among the modern (meaning post-Rebel Without a Cause) teen movie pantheon. Think Rock 'n' Roll High School with several slashers’ worth of body count. Or Clueless as adapted by J.G Ballard. Or Heathers set to Love Island pacing. Because what’s happening at Covington High is an outbreak of exploding teens — high school hormones are raining blood in the hallways and classrooms, and everyone is flummoxed.
Duffield’s film is more charitable than real life, in that school shootings and gun violence are concrete and actually could be stopped if legislators had any guts at all. But it masterfully taps into the grand drama of high school, where every pop lyric is grand opera and every ache of love is a tale to endure as long as the stars. This film digs deep into the heightened emotions that any adult can relate to as well, but it’s not trying to impress any of us. It’s about The Now first and foremost, and it’s an essential work.
Catch it Friday night as part of the Belcourt's Midnight Movies series.
