Bellflower

It's become a recurring theme recently of films by first-time directors that have extremely appealing portions to them, even entire half-films that are very good, and then an ugly twist to them. Such a thing was apparent in CHRONICLE, and here, again, it reappears in BELLFLOWER. The film has a lot going for it. It has some occasionally stunning shots, a cricket-eating contest, and a road trip to Texas just to try a shady gas station's day old meatloaf. But, ultimately, the film is immature. It considers a couple of lazy hipsters who are obsessed with MAD MAX and half-ass prepare for the apocalypse. Woodrow (Evan Glodell, who directed) and Aiden, the lazy hipsters, begin to assemble flamethrowers, a car named MEDUSA that shoots out flames, and loose plans for these instruments. But, Woodrow becomes distracted by Milly, a girl who beat him in a cricket eating contest, and as he falls in love with her, his MAD MAX obsession becomes secondary. What happens though, is that Woodrow gets dumped by a girl who he liked only because of her willingness to discard things she considers excess or compulsory. He shows his depression by wearing a ridiculous beard, and through some cop-out imagery that's the apex of the film's immature notions. Mainly though, the film portrays its characters as important, nice, or evil (any number of vague projections), when they really don't inhabit much more than being immoral or lazy. The acts of Woodrow and Aiden in the eventual apocalypse of sorts isn't anything but obvious given what we've already seen of them, and when the fall out comes, it's just as obvious. We learn as they begin to wreak havoc, nothing. We already knew they were violent idiots, but then, when the whole thing falls out, it's just as obvious. We already knew they were lazy, violent idiots, and the whole film just becomes the daydream of some violent little wretch. How boring.

★★ out of Five