[REVIEW] “Spontaneous”: Coming-Of-Age Love Story About Growing Up…And Blowing Up (4/5 Stars)
“Spontaneous” kicks off with a boom. When students in their high school begin inexplicably exploding (literally…), seniors Mara Carlyle (Katherine Langford) and Dylan (Charlie Plummer) struggle to survive in a world where each moment may be their last. As an unexpected romance blossoms between them, Mara and Dylan discover that when tomorrow is no longer promised, they can finally start living for today! (see the trailer below)
“Spontaneous” is a dark romantic comedy that serves as a metaphor for understanding the anxiety and depression affecting many of today’s teens. Adapted by writer/director Brian Duffield from Aaron Starmer’s young adult novel, the movie is about how ‘surviving high school,’ once a joke, has become more literal — here, teen characters die abruptly and distressingly as the result of spontaneous combustion.
These teens actually, physically explode, without warning or explanation. Mara doesn’t know what to make of these lethal eruptions. No one else has a clue, either. It just started to happen one day. The students never know which of them are going to blow up, or when. And yet they are expected to keep going to school and studying and worrying about graduating and getting into college and getting a date to prom.
These teens have to go through all the usual hormone-induced crises while worrying that the person sitting next to them in class might detonate, showering the classroom walls with blood and bone. The combustions are very bloody (sometimes chunky, too), and one intense scene with multiple explosions could be a major anxiety trigger.
Mara navigates a deep but contentious friendship with her best pal Tess McNulty (Hayley Law) or finding true love with her first serious boyfriend, the charming Dylan (Charlie Plummer)—occur beneath the shadow of inexplicable horror. Yvonne Orji also stars along with Rob Huebel and Piper Perabo.
I saw the exploding teens as representing school shooting victims, those who’ve accidentally overdosed, those who’ve taken their own lives, or even those who’ve experienced intense pressure that accompanies high school life today. The more specific and focused it is on the details of these kids’ lives, the better it is, the more I felt its relevance to our own uncertain times. With horror and comedy combined with a suspenseful plot, I give “Spontaneous” 4 out of 5 stars. 
Check out more“Spontaneous” images below (Photos: courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment):
From Paramount Home Entertainment, “Spontaneous” is available October 6 on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, Sony PlayStation Video, FandangoNOW, and more.
Watch the trailer:
Rating: R for teen drug and alcohol use, language, and bloody images throughout
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Original Language: English
Director: Brian Duffield
Producers: Nicki Cortese, Brian Duffield, Matthew Kaplan, Jordan Levin
Writer: Brian Duffield
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 6, 2020
Runtime: 1h 42m
Production Co: Awesomeness Films, Jurassic Party Productions