''Spontaneous'' is a 2020 American

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

romantic

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

horror film, written and directed by

Brian Duffield Brian Duffield is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He directed the 2020 dark comedy '' Spontaneous'' and films he has written include '' Love and Monsters'' (2020), '' Underwater'' (2020), and '' The Babysitter'' (2017). ...

, in his directorial debut. It stars

Katherine Langford Katherine Langford (born 29 April 1996) is an Australian actress. After appearing in several independent films, she had her breakthrough starring as Hannah Baker in the Netflix television series ''13 Reasons Why'' (2017–2018), which earned he ...

Charlie Plummer Charlie Faulkner Plummer is an American actor. Plummer began his career as a child actor in short films before appearing on the television dramas '' Boardwalk Empire'' and '' Granite Flats.'' In 2019, he starred in the Hulu miniseries ''Looking ...

Hayley Law Hayley Law (born November 18, 1992) is a Canadian actress and singer, known for her portrayal of Valerie Brown in the CW drama series '' Riverdale'', Lizzie Elliot in the Netflix science fiction series, '' Altered Carbon'', and Tess in the da ...

Piper Perabo Piper Lisa Perabo () (born October 31, 1976) is an American actress. Following her breakthrough in the comedy-drama film '' Coyote Ugly'' (2000), she starred in ''The Prestige'' (2006), '' Angel Has Fallen'' (2019), and as CIA agent Annie Walk ...

Rob Huebel Robert Anderson Huebel (born June 4, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and writer best known for his sketch comedy work on the MTV series ''Human Giant'' and for his role of Dr. Owen Maestro on the Adult Swim series ''Childrens Hospital''. He ...

and

Yvonne Orji Yvonne Anuli Orji (born 2 December 1983) is a Nigerian-American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role in the television series '' Insecure'' (2016–2021), for which she has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and three NAAC ...

and is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by

Aaron Starmer Aaron Starmer (born 1976 in northern California) is an American author of young adult fiction novels, known for ''The Riverman Trilogy'' and ''Spontaneous''. As of June 2016, he was working on another novel, entitled ''Meme''. In 2016, it was repo ...

. It was released in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on October 2, 2020, followed by

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

on October 6, 2020, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. It received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

During a senior calculus class at Covington High, senior student Katelyn Ogden inexplicably explodes, spraying the surrounding students and classroom with blood. The police take the class into custody during an investigation, but aside from ruling out an attack, are unable to determine the cause of the explosion. During custody, senior student Mara Carlyle suggests to the class that it could happen again, a sentiment taken seriously by her peers. Afterwards, an unknown person texts her, claiming to have had a crush on her for multiple years: Mara promptly asks for the texter not to send a

dick pic A dick pic is an image or photograph of a penis, usually erect, sent electronically (e.g. on the internet, by SMS, or by close-range file sharing). The term ''dick pic'' is derived from ''dick'', slang for penis, and '' pic'', a shortening of t ...

, to which the individual responds with a picture of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. Following Katelyn's

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

service, Mara gets high on

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the na ...

purchased from school dealers, Jenna and Joe Dalton, and goes for tea with her best friend Tess; fellow student Dylan approaches the pair and reveals himself to be the unknown texter with said crush on Mara. Dylan explains how he had begun thinking of life and how quickly it could end, and upon hearing Mara's suggestion of the incident repeating itself, realized that he needed to take action. They begin seeing one another and attend a school football game and house party, although each is cut short when a jock, Perry Love, and drink server, Cranberry Bollinger, explode, respectively, sending the attendees into a panic. Classes are cancelled for a while, and people begin to dub the explosions as "The Covington Curse". The incidents attract the attention of numerous government agencies, who place

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Agent Carla Rosetti on the case; she enlists Mara and Tess as aid. While investigating the possible involvement of drugs, Mara goes for a drive with the school dealers, the Dalton twins; they explode and the car crashes. Dylan arrives and consoles a dazed Mara, before federal agents arrive in protective suits and detain them. The entire senior class is placed in observation while the government devises a "Snooze Button" pill to "cure" the students, during which multiple students explode. Realizing they should live like every day might be their last, Mara and Dylan continue seeing each other, pursuing a

hedonistic Hedonism refers to a family of theories, all of which have in common that pleasure plays a central role in them. ''Psychological'' or ''motivational hedonism'' claims that human behavior is determined by desires to increase pleasure and to decre ...

lifestyle; they have sex and dance to 80s music in an old barn. School resumes for the senior class, although the townspeople begin to fear the students and Agent Rosetti inadvertently admits to Mara that the explosions may not yet be over. While demonstrating the supposed effectiveness of the pill at a school seminar, a student explodes, triggering a chain reaction of explosions in the classroom. Dozens of students explode during the ensuing rampage, whereas Mara and Dylan are separated by the mob in a struggle to escape the building. Mara exits through a side entrance with ease and reunites with Dylan, who tells her he's glad she's still here and then explodes, injuring Mara in the process. Following Dylan's death, a despondent Mara turns to alcohol, and in the ensuing weeks drunkenly falls out with her parents and Tess, as well as accidentally breaking Agent Rosetti's car window with a stolen bottle of

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...

. Mara also reads student comments online speculating that she might be the Covington Curse, as she was present at the scene of each occurring explosion. At the combined graduation/prom ceremony, Mara reconciles with Tess, who reveals that she is leaving town for a beach house that night and invites her to come. Believing herself to be the curse, Mara casually apologizes to the attendees for causing the explosions, but others chime in, claiming responsibility over circumstantial personal problems. Leaving the event, Mara visits Dylan's grave, and has a heart-to-heart conversation with his mother, who convinces her to move on with her life. Mara apologizes to her parents and sobers up. After the rampage, the next "Snooze Button" pill seems to be effective and the explosions stop anticlimactically, leaving 31 students in the senior class dead. Covington High is closed by the authorities and scheduled for demolition. Mara gains possession of Dylan's milk van and – with her parents' blessing – moves into the beach house with Tess, as they had intended to do since childhood. The film ends with Mara telling the viewers to enjoy life while it lasts, as, "The fuck else can you do?"

Cast

as Mara *

as Dylan *

as Agent Rosetti *

as Tess *

as Charlie *

as Angela In addition, the drug dealing siblings, Jenna and Joe, are played by

Laine MacNeil Laine MacNeil (born October 28, 1996) is a Canadian actress. MacNeil made her motion picture debut at the age of thirteen, and is best known for her role as Patty Farrell in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' feature film franchise, which earned her ...

and Clive Holloway, respectively.

Production

In June 2016, it was announced

Awesomeness Films Awesomeness (abbreviation of AwesomenessTV) is an American-based film and television studio as well as a multi-channel based multilingual television network owned by Paramount Digital Studios, a division of Paramount Global. Established in Jun ...

had acquired rights to adapt the novel of the same name by

, with

writing the script, and ultimately directing.

Matt Kaplan Matthew Kaplan (14 April 1984) better known as Matt Kaplan is an American film producer and businessman. He is known for producing young adult films, including ''To All the Boys'' film series. He is the founder and CEO of Ace Entertainment and f ...

co-produced under the Awesomeness banner, while Nicki Cortese produced under her Jurassic Party Productions banner. In December 2017,

was set to star in the film. In January 2018,

and

joined as co-stars. In February 2018,

, Clive Holloway, Bzhaun Rhoden, and Chris Shields were added in supporting roles.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in early 2018.

Release

The film had a

on October 2, 2020, followed by

on October 6, 2020, by

Reception

On the review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 67 reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics' consensus reads, "A dark teen comedy with an explosive twist, ''Spontaneous'' reaffirms Katherine Langford as a rising star ― and marks debuting director Brian Duffield as a filmmaker to watch." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film received a rating of 78 out of 100 based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews.” Matt Zoller Seitz of '' RogerEbert.com'' gave ''Spontaneous'' 3 out of 4, while Leslie Felperin of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' who gave the film a 4 out of 5 score, said that "this debut feature from writer-director Brian Duffield has plenty of gallows humour to leaven the gore and tragedy, and plenty of subtexts swimming under the surface like glittering, metaphorical koi." Allie Gemmill of ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

'' gave the film B−, while

Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor Ch ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called ''Spontaneous'' "explosively funny and touching."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title 2020 directorial debut films 2020 films 2020 black comedy films 2020s fantasy comedy films 2020s high school films 2020s science fiction comedy films 2020s teen comedy films American coming-of-age comedy films Coming-of-age romance films 2020s coming-of-age comedy films American fantasy films American fantasy comedy films American high school films American science fiction comedy films American teen comedy films Films scored by Joseph Trapanese Awesomeness Films films Films based on American novels Paramount Pictures films American comedy horror films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films