“It happened again. A lot.”

Story: Senior year baby! Mara is sick to death of high school, and could just explode with ennui. But then one of her classmate actually does explode. Like, all over everybody, and right during calc too. Ew. It’s not an isolated incident, and as Mara’s classmates start to literally poof out of existence, the government, parents, and the students themselves try to figure out what’s happening. Meanwhile, Mara’s got a secret admirer that decides if everybody’s ‘sploding? Why not fess up.

Scares: Nope. Though the story is ooky, it’s more comedy than horror.
Splat Factor: This is literally a movie about spontaneous explosions of human beings. Guess.

Subgenre: High School Horrors
Year Released: 2020
Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Based on the 2016 novel by Aaron Starmer.


Trick or Treat?: Damn son. 2020 was a helluva perfect time to release this – during COVID lockdown. A “disease” that nobody understands, locking down the senior class? Fuuuuuuu. I wish I’d watched it then. Still, Spontaneous is a wildly unusual film, that’s not only a commentary on how we interact with The Youths, but how we handle a crisis. Again, damn timely for 2020. And now.

I adore Katherine Langford. She was maybe too good in 13 Reasons Why, and I’ve been dying to see more of her. Meanwhile, as I’ve been kinda obsessed with The Long Walk, seeing Walk‘s Charlie Plummer as Dylan,the guy crushing on Mara, was a treat. (Look for me finally getting off my ass and taking a look at Karate Kid: Legends soon, because Walk‘s Ben Wang is in that.) Their onscreen chemistry is adorable, as they navigate their new reality while trying to grasp the whole “coming of age” thing.

Writer/director Brian Duffield lets Langford just go for it, and she sinks into the character of Mara with a skill the seems effortless. The whole cast is absolutely brimming with talent. Man, I watch too many films where that’s definitely not the case. It’s good to see comedian Rob Huebel and former teen in-girl Piper Perabo as Mara’s perhaps too laid back parents, for that tie-in to earlier teen films. Shout-out to Hayley Law as Mara’s BFF Tess, a gal who can not only deal with Mara’s strange, but has her own wild that makes them perfect friends.

Plus, the comedy is decidedly dark, as you’d expect from a horror comedy about people exploding would be. The dialogue is filled with characters trying to joke while being all too aware of what’s going on. And there are dark moments scattered throughout. Like “a dad taking the stick figure child off his minivan after she ‘splodes” dark. Dark, sarcastic humor is a love of mine, and this film has it in spades.

Langford’s Mara does lots of 4th wall breaking for exposition/back story, making things feel almost safe. I mean, if there’s someone narrating this story like it’s the past, everything ends up cool, right? Um. maybe. Not for everybody though. And that’s what really grabbed me. Spontaneous holds nobody as precious, offers no explanations, and wraps up with no commentary. It’s just something that happened, something that couldn’t be explained, and may or may not be over. It’s a slice of what it’s like in the real world, amped up to eleven. Watching characters try to make sense of what’s going on, and what to do with the time they have left – be it seconds or years – is fascinating as hell. Langford’s narration keeps things as light as possible, while never forgetting the effects of such a cruel joke nature decided to play.

I don’t know why this film doesn’t get more recognition. It really should. Why not help rectify that sometime this month?

Score: 4 out of 5 pumpkins.