I gave Spontaneous a watch almost at random. I saw it on Amazon Prime (rental), read the synopsis, and said, “well, there’s nothing else attracting my eye right now” and gave it a shot. And I’m so glad I did. Maybe this is just for me or people with a certain sense of humor, but I was really into this film’s writing/dialog. And its general anarchic sense of the world.

Spontaneous is about a high school class that has a problem: its members randomly explode for no apparent reason or cause. This, of course, freaks everyone out and when the explosions keep happening, the government quarantines them in order to look for a cause and a cure.

The film isn’t just about exploding teenagers any more than its just a teenage romance or a meditation on fatalism or a metaphor for nihilism. It’s certainly all that but hardly JUST that. Yeah, our main character is cynical but she also loves life and her friends… she loves life while also hating it. The film takes exploding teens seriously from a story perspective – what would this do to their psyches, to the town and parents, and how would the authorities react? But the film also dances a fine line, acknowledging that its preposterous, finding the silver linings (even while drowning it in booze). It’s a very smart, very wickedly funny film.

The extent to which you can stomach the erudite and cynical dialog will determine how much you like the film. I thought it was written wonderfully, with so much charm, and humor that I wanted to hug the characters (which they assuredly wouldn’t tolerate). But if you think the dialog is too arch and obviously written by a 40 year old screenwriter for teens, then maybe the whole movie will be insufferable for you. But not for me… I like smart and smartly written teen characters.

The only problem with the film is probably that the second half isn’t as strong as the first. And that shift wasn’t an accident… it was done for story reasons and I get that. The second half is still able to maintain the movie’s themes and messages and is still eminently watchable. Just not as personally satisfying.

I say check this one out. Keep in mind it’s about exploding teenagers so there’s a significant amount of blood and, of course, an arch attitude about death so that might turn some people off. But I don’t think it should, not too much at least. I fell for this film and recommend it highly.

Score: 87