In ‘Spontaneous’, Katherine Langford becomes a high school hero in the midst of a very real global pandemic

Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment

In “Spontaneous,” growing up gets a lot harder for Mara Carlyle (Katherine Langford, Looming) when all her friends start exploding unexpectedly.

The high school coming-of-age comedy is an iconic Hollywood genre, where young female characters are historically presented and written as real people, even while dealing with numerous exaggerated characters with realistic voices, performances, and persistence. yet universal issues.

From Samantha Baker (16 candles) to Chris Parker (Adventures in Babysitting), Veronica Sawyer (Heathers) to Olive Pendergast (Simple a), such characters have served as inspiration and role models.

They have helped other young women around the world find their own voice and they have helped who knows how many young men not only how to talk to girls, but how to treat them with respect and more importantly how to listen. . What they want and need.

Well, guess what, it’s time to add another name to the list of all-time greats: Mara Carlyle.

Mara (Katherine Langford) is your typical high school senior, except she’s not. She is outspoken, quick-witted and wickedly self-aware. She name-checks obscure movies, (literally) bites the hand of a suitor who thinks it’s okay to touch her without permission, and, in a crazy flashback, wears a funeral veil the day after Donald Trump is elected president and It is all black.

When the teacher asks why she’s dressed so stiffly, Mara doesn’t miss a beat: “Because I’m sad.”

But, as her classmates begin to randomly burst into the bloodstream, whether in class, on the football field or at a party, Mara becomes a beacon of hope not only for her imaginary friends, but for any high school age. A slightly older audience is watching Spontaneous In the midst of a very real global pandemic.

Spontaneous It’s fun. It’s gritty, restless, surprisingly dark and — like Mar — wise beyond his years.

It takes the traditional structure and narrative thrust of a classic coming-of-age story and completely subverts it in a way that is aptly applied to the current Covid-19 crisis.

I defy anyone to put up with me and its beautifully scripted and perfectly acted love story with Dylan (Charlie Plummer), a boy who finally finds the courage to confess his feelings even as the world around him turns upside down.

More importantly, Spontaneous Incredibly smart.

Through my eyes, words and actions, Spontaneous Provides a perfect blueprint for dealing with the highs, lows and every possible unexpected obstacle that life can throw our way.

I can’t think of a better film at this critical juncture.

John W. Allman has spent more than 25 years as a professional journalist and writer, but has loved movies all his life. Good movies, terrible movies, movies that are so bad you can’t help but champion them. Since 2009, he has maintained a review column and now a website that often overlooks and George A. Dedicated to interviews with cult cinema favorites such as Romero, Bruce Campbell and Dee Wallace. Contact him at Blood violence and Babes.comon Facebook @BloodViolenceBabes Or on Twitter @BVB_reviews.