I loved Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s first movie, Resolution. Even though their new film Spring does not deal with video formats and a meta take on the nature of film viewing, I know Moorhead and Benson speak my language. They spearheaded a contest to create the most absurd comparisons to describe Spring, and I won for: “Spring is like The Human Centipede starring your mom.”
Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci) loses the dying mother he’d been taking care of and takes a trip to Italy to get away. He meets Louise (Nadia Hilker), a captivating woman with a dangerous secret. I want to preserve the spoilers, but this is Fantastic Fest so it’s not a stretch to reveal that Louise is transforming into something. It’s what she is that will keep the audience guessing.
Benson’s script is smart, and lets Evan be smart. The meet-cute turns male seduction fantasies on their head. Evan doesn’t want the quick hookup and is suspicious when Louise offers one. What he really wants is a real date. The film is honest and perceptive about budding relationships, dealing with intimacy, investigating each other and worries about the unknown. Mystery and privacy are valid components of a new relationship, but where is the line?
When Louise has “the talk” with Evan, you really feel it because we’ve all been there, but she’s really talking about something horrific. Then they ultimately speak honesty about Louise’s mythology in a tour de force sequence through the alleyways of Italy. The technique is impressive, but what’s even more impressive is that they both ask the right questions about what this means for them. Moorhead and Benson layer the film’s mythology into the mundane. For example, the job Evan takes to earn room and board in Italy has a subtle connection to Louise.
Louise’s mythology is an inventive original and leads to some stunning transformations and suspenseful sequences. Benson and Moorhead know how to manipulate the audience in a fun way. It’s okay. You can trust them to take you on a good ride. They won’t betray you. Let’s credit Pucci and Hilker with that too, for playing such sincere characters dealing with the impossible.
Oh, and the absurd comparison game was just a joke about some of the initial reviews that called Spring “Richard Linklater meets H.P. Lovecraft.” It’s got nothing to do with The Human Centipede but Moorhead loves mom jokes as much as I do so he loved it. I have a tendency to use references myself, so their game worked. I got it out of my system and then was able to evaluate Spring totally on its own merits.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
