Parent reviews for Spontaneous

I wouldn’t want my children to see this movie full of negative messages, drug use and sexual situations. Main female and her sidekick look closer to 30 than 17 and overall I can’t see any socially redeeming message to warrant why this movie was made or why common sense media’s review would have any positive remakes regarding this film.

Spontaneous, it’s a dark comedy movie where a small town students begin to spontaneously combust. And while there is some strong language and seas of gore, The movie is well balanced with sharp and witty humor, (when the teens are being observed, the main character and a boy pretend they are Elliot and E.T while reaching out to eachother in a comical way.) there are a few scenes that could make viewers uncomfortable, (at one point multiple “combustions” happen in rapid succession, and the students are over running each other trying to get out of the building, [some people have paralleled to school shootings] however this scene helps to move the plot by showing, that the students thought they were safe, and this round of combustion’s were the worst get.) There was some pretty strong language throughout the entire movie, so if you’re comfortable with some choice 4 letter swearwords this one may not be for you. There’s a steep amount of drug and alcohol use (mainly alcohol) there was one instance of psychedelic mushrooms, and two or three instances of marijuana. There’s also references to a hookah pen at the beginning, as the main character and her best friend want to “grow old, wear kimonos, smoke a fat hookah, and stick their toes in the sand.” There is also a hookah pen at the end. The main character Mara as well as her parents each take a drag from a marijuana vapor pen, (which is in lieu of Mara returning from the testing facility and the parents are unsure how to help their daughter cope.) Mara also drinks alcohol in excess, as another coping mechanism. There are a few other things touched on in the CSM review that I won’t mention here, but in summary, if you can get past the strong language in the occasional core, and some minor drug use, and alcohol use, this movie is for you, this movie has a great and strong message at the end, about life and how life can be unfair and scary but you just have to keep going.

There were a few moments of swears etc..but nothing too bad. Gory, but clearly implied and expected. You don't see anything too disturbing.

The main review is completely misleading (Why?) and minimizes the constant drug use and heavy pro-drug message of the film. The film opens with the main character explaining that her and her best friend's goal is to sit on a porch and smoke pot all day like some old ladies they saw as kids. When the kids start dying, the main character uses (you guessed it) more drugs to figure everything out. This includes mushrooms, lots of pot smoking, pill taking. This is all portrayed as cool and no big deal. Her parents encourage it, and they decide it is important to smoke pot as a family (no exaggeration) to get through this tough time (Not a direct quote but dad basically says “Hey daughter, it is time for you to smoke with me and your mom. Use my pipe.”) In the end, (after all the kids are cured), the main character grows and finally develops the courage to achieve her life goal - to sit on a porch with her friend and smoke pot. Wonderful, deep message. It almost seems quaint when the main character is simply drunk, and teaching her father how to mix drinks. Beyond the drug issues, the film is slow, repetitive and misses every opportunity to use its interesting premise. The main character is supposed to be in high school, but she looks and sounds like a jaded 28-year-old waitress who is pretty unlikable. At one point, another girl in school mentions Jesus and the main character points at her and hatefully screams “whore” for no reason other than apparent bigotry. She is also bummed that the death of her classmate ruins the message of her “Carrie” Halloween costume. This is the depth of this film. You know that a character is saying something profound because they use the f-word to punctuate their deep thoughts. In tone, all of the characters are so constantly glib that the film does not play as a dark comedy. It is a boring repeat of the characters being to cool for life (“I was like, ‘whatever’”), and then feeling "super bummed" when someone dies. This repeats like 5 times and the film never moves beyond the most superficial lines. The premise had so much potential, but this film is completely inarticulate and boring. Enjoy the trailer and skip the movie. You will not get your 2 hrs. back.