Spontaneous (2020)

 

Streaming Services: Amazon Prime, Hulu, EPIX, DirecTV
Movie Name/Year: Spontaneous (2020)
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Romance
Length:  101 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: Awesomeness Films, Jurassic Party Productions
Director: Brian Duffield
Writers: Brian Duffield, Aaron Starmer
Actors: Katherine Langford, Charlie Plummer, Hayley Law, Yvonne Orji, Piper Perabo, Rob Huebel, Chelah Horsdal, Chris Shields, Clive Holloway, Danielle Kremeniuk, Dolores Drake, Doralynn Mui, Jason Tremblay, Kaitlyn Bernard, Laine MacNeil, Luvia Petersen, Marlowe Percival, Mellany Barros, Melody Niemann, Payton Lepinski
 
Blurb from IMDb:  Get ready for the outrageous coming-of-age love story about growing up...and blowing up. When students in their school begin exploding (literally), seniors Mara and Dylan struggle to survive in a world where each moment may be their last.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
I’m going to be upfront with you. I’m not sure I really gave Spontaneous a fair shake when we were working on the Top 20 Movies to Look Out For in October 2020. I’m glad to say that it wasn’t my turn to write the featured list of that month, so Selina’s placement of the film at #5 won out. I went back and looked it up – Spontaneous didn’t make my personal list. My notes indicate, however, that it was omitted only by a narrow margin. I digress…
 
Before I ramble too far off track here, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Spontaneous was probably one of the best teen romance – comedies that I’ve seen in a very long time. The fact that it’s a horror-comedy just adds so much more zest to that particular genre recipe and helped elevate it.

 

We watch a lot of movies every year – at least 150+ just for the blog. That doesn’t even take into consideration things we watch for fun outside of the productions we review. It’s safe to say we’ve seen a ton of these teen romance movies. They tend to be very formulaic and most are generally basic. Spontaneous is anything but basic. The mere concept of teenagers just randomly spontaneously combusting and that becoming a backdrop for a love story is incredibly unique.
 
There was so much to love about Spontaneous – from the cast, to the writing, and even the creative decisions made regarding the explosions themselves and the resulting gory mess. That’s an odd thing to think about, really – an appreciation for the splatter pattern of a teenager exploding. Taken out of context, a conversation about this movie might land you in an awkward situation! I’ve got the giggles just thinking about it due to a recent run-in a friend and I had with a nosy waitress butting in to our conversation about D&D and werewolf game characters. She had been nearly ready to call the loony bin for us. (I’m not kidding.)

 
I am digressing again, and yet it’s also still to the point. There are so many funny elements within this movie. Some of it is very dark comedy, and some feels far lighter than a moment in the middle of this story’s horrific situation should be entitled.
 
The feisty and punky attitude of Katherine Langford’s (13 Reasons Why, Knives Out, Cursed) character was so refreshing. I love that she was just a normal girl and not shone in the light of any particular clique, or even as the moody outsider. This certainly wasn’t a film directed at the high school social caste system. Charlie Plummer (Boardwalk Empire, All the Money in the World, Words on Bathroom Walls) was also fantastic in his lead role. I felt his character’s vulnerability and enjoyed the dynamic that Plummer and Langford brought to the story together. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Hayley Law (Riverdale, Altered Carbon, Echo Boomers) as the amazing best friend character. The banter, emotional exchanges, and the narrative of her character’s friendship with Langford’s are just as important to Spontaneous as the love story. (I also love her hair!)

 
One of my favorite scenes in Spontaneous is in the trailer so I feel safe talking about it specifically without spoilers. I adored the recreation of the quarantine scene from E.T. (1982). It endeared these characters to me even more because I could relate so deeply to them. The scene also underscores so many of the emotions within the film – the character connection, the gravity of their situation, spontaneous humor in the face of potential spontaneous tragedy… I could go on.
 
There are several ways to watch Spontaneous at the moment, though it will be leaving Amazon Prime Video’s ‘included with Prime’ status within 13 days of this article’s publishing date. If you have a chance, I urge anyone that’s good with some blood spray and enjoys romance, horror, and comedy to watch Spontaneous as soon as you can. I guess you can say that my opinion of the movie is explosively positive…and I also have another book to add to my ever-expanding to-read list.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 98%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 67%
Metascore – 78%
Metacritic User Score – 6.9/10
IMDB Score – 6.5/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 5/5
 
Movie Trailer: