Brian Duffield
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Not since Heathers has a such a quirky, funny, wholly original, yet horrifyingly relatable tragicomic romance summed up the experience of many contemporary teens.
Spontaneous is reminiscent of Heathers, particularly when it comes to the trenchant mirth and social satire carefully embedded into the script.
Duffield’s writing shines when matched with Langford’s whimsical glow, and together they have created a bloodier Heathers for the modern age.
If you asked me to name the three best dark cult teen classics of the last 30+ years, I’d start with “Heathers” (1988), then go with “Donnie Darko” (2001) — and I can’t think of a more worthy contender to complete the list than “Spontaneous,” a diamond-sharp gem that plays like a 21st century take on a John Hughes high school romance butting heads with Brian De Palma’s “Carrie.”
Spontaneous starts off as the best teen-centered dark comedy since Heathers , then evolves into something unexpectedly profound.
She’s channeling her inner Heathers meets Beetlejuice era Winona Ryder, no easy task if you ask me.
She’s channeling her inner Heathers meets Beetlejuice era Winona Ryder, no easy task if you ask me.
“Spontaneous” is a very dark dramedy with horror elements about a teen romance that blossoms at a high school where students begin randomly and literally exploding in the style of Cronenberg (“Scanners”) or DePalma (“The Fury”).
Filmmaker David Cronenberg is also name-checked, and anyone who's seen Scanners will certainly know why.
Based on a 2016 YA novel by Aaron Starmer, “Spontaneous” starts off sounding like a goofy teen-themed riff on “Scanners” (there is even a Cronenberg name check early on in the proceedings) and the outrageousness of the conceit, combined with the caustic perspective provided by narrator Mara, might lead viewers to conclude from the opening scenes that it is going to be a wild jet-black comedy in the mode of something like the cult classic “Heathers” (1989).
Something like Scanners but backed by even less reason.
What a performance, hinging The Fallout on its allowances to be imperfectly sloppy like Katherine Langford does Spontaneous .