I won’t lie; this movie totally “missed me”. Until I heard about it on Recotopia (a podcast I strongly recommend), I had never heard about it, and if I were to stumble upon it while browsing through streaming services, I would have probably just skipped past it. And that would be a bummer because I would have missed this brilliant, romantic comedy with a twist and spectacular performance by Katherine Langford.

Let’s face it Spontaneous isn’t breaking any new ground. It’s a coming-of-age romantic comedy, and we have seen many, many, many, MANY of those over the last couple of decades. What differentiates this one from most of the others, much more average films, are two things – the unique twist and Katherine’s performance. And I will talk about both but honestly? I don’t want to reveal what’s the unique twist, even if it’s part of the synopsis for this movie. Because if you can, you should go to this film as blindly as possible as I had no idea about what the film was about.

Now, would it ruin it if I just spelt it out? No, probably not, but it would take away a bit of fun from your experience, so I will try my hardest to talk around it, even though you can literally go to IMDb and read it for yourself there. The twist works on several levels; it’s not just a differentiator gimmick; that’s thrown in just for the sake of it. What surprised me was how neatly it tied with the themes of growing up and living your life for now, not tomorrow. Of course, the movie isn’t trying to say you shouldn’t plan your future or anything like that, no. It merely presents a scenario where our protagonists must be more mindful of “now” in their lives. I think it’s a great lesson to have in a movie aimed at younger audiences, as many have the “immortality” symptom, thinking they are invincible, they have many years ahead of them, so why not wait and do this tomorrow? I have time, right? And due to this twist, Spontaneous managed to carve a nice niche for itself as I don’t think many films for and about young people address that aspect of life. Yes, it’s more likely you have 60/70 years ahead of you if you are 18/20 years old, sure. But it is not guaranteed or given.

I was only aware of Katherine Langford due to her small role in Knives Out (2019, my review here) and completely forgot she was the main star of 13 Reasons Why (2017 – 2020), a show I have no interest in watching. So forgive my ignorance for not knowing how talented she was. She is the leading actress in every sense of the word, the film lives and dies with her, and she smashed her role. She is hilariously snarky for most of the film, only for her to “flip” to a more serious tone by the end, and she did it flawlessly. She reminds me of young Sandra Bullock, and not because she would like her; it’s more about the level of comedy chops and having the ability to carry the entire film on her shoulders and make it work, to be that snarky but knowing where the line was every time. And when it’s time for her character to do some questionable things, we are still rooting for her, not against her, because by that point, we understand what she went through. And to strike that balance, especially with her character being as snarky as it was, it’s not easy. Many seasoned actors get burned and go “too much” (snarkiness or meanness), resulting in average comedies, let alone romantic comedies. But Katherine’s performance in this movie is an utterly different story. I can only hope she will have a bright and long future in the industry, but as this film taught us, you never know 😉

The only reason I am not giving this film the highest rating might be a petty one – I secretly hoped for some resolution regarding the twist. Now, I completely understand that wasn’t the point, and the twist served as a metaphor of sorts, but what can I tell you; my logical brain was hoping there would have been some (possibly funny) answer. But this also leads me to believe that the next time I watch this film, knowing what I know now, it won’t bother me as much, and I will enjoy the ride a bit more.

Overall, Spontaneous was an unexpectedly funny, charming and delightful movie with the captivating Katherine Langford. It’s one of those films that even if you don’t enjoy as much as I did, I would still be willing to bet you will enjoy her performance. Spontaneous is currently rated 6.5/10 on IMDb, which seems unfairly low. I checked the film’s RottenTomatoes score, which is a whopping 96% from critics (average 8.3/10) – that seems more like it. Don’t be like me and sleep on this hidden gem of a film; otherwise, you might miss the rise of Katherine. At least, I hope she will be busy over the next couple of years because I want to see more of her.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke