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REVIEW: The Deliberate Horror Show, That Is 'Spontaneous'

REVIEW: The Deliberate Horror Show, That Is 'Spontaneous'
SPONTANEOUS | Official Trailer | Paramount Movies

This movie could easily have been a practical joke by studio executives and producers.

This movie could easily have been a practical joke by studio executives and producers. "I know", they'd say, "let's take the most disgusting, disturbing premise for a film and then cast two of the most talented young actors in the world, to see if they can still be good, even in the midst of something truly awful". Well…joke's on them!


This movie is gross. It is bizarre. It is upsetting. It should come with a serious warning label. I wanted to turn it off after less than 3 minutes. The only reason I didn't, was because of Katherine Langford and Charlie Plummer.
[caution, if you keep reading, there will be some spoilers]

Warning, do not eat or drink snacks of any kind, while watching this movie. If you are squeamish, have PTSD or are easily startled, DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. I wish someone had told me that before I started watching.

Now, the studio gives away a lot of the premise of this film in the advertising. But, it still can't prepare you for how disgusting it is, to actually see someone(s) spontaneously combust, with all the realistic blood and guts Hollywood can conjure up (without any warning). I guess saying "without any warning" is redundant ,since the title of the film is Spontaneous.

This movie made me anxious, I was practically shaking while watching it. And to call it a 'love story' or 'rom com', as the poster and trailer do…is just stupid and misleading.

But, about an hour into the film something remarkable happened…it became profound.

I think a film like this, was inevitable from a generation that has grown up since Columbine, as the 'school shooting' generation.

Is this movie a metaphor for what these kids have had to grow up with for the last 20+ years? I'm not sure.

But it was hauntingly clear to me, that we have so damaged these kids, that a movie like this, a story like this had to be told. It's probably not the first and it certainly won't be the last.

We send these kids to school, we flood our communities with guns, we do nothing to protect them, there are massacres all the time. And we don't expect that to show up in art? That's naive.

This is a really gruesome, really difficult film to watch.

But if you look at the faces of Katherine Langford and Charlie Plummer and realize what people their age have had to grow up with, it actually makes some sense.

With each bloody explosion, remind yourself what these kids have had to live with their entire lives. As you shake and wonder when the next bloody explosion will happen, remind yourself, they probably think that every day they walk into school or take part in an 'active shooter' drill.

It is a sad commentary on our society that values guns more than humans.

So, watch it if you dare. And if you're not in the mood for a horror show, just watch Charlie in Lean On Pete or Katherine in Love, Simon.

[SPONTANEOUS IS IN THEATERS NOW, AND AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND OCTOBER 6TH]

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