Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
I'm not sure I could pass on a test on what writer-director Gregg (MYSTERIOUS SKIN, SMILEY FACE, THE DOOM GENERATION) Araki's latest is actually about, but it seems to be a thesis on young people and nihilism, which is ironic since most young people don't think they can die. Or maybe Araki is marking a change in that worldview, in that, we live in a world where young people no longer believe they are indestructible. Maybe between disease, terrorism, school shootings, and all of the other ways to die unexpectedly, even our free and easy youth see their demise as a real possibility and are living life like they just don't give a fuck. Or perhaps KABOOM is just a fun romp about stopping the end of the world. Or maybe it's both.
However you slice it, KABOOM is a kinetic marvel from the always interesting and often quite funny Araki who tells the story of gay college student Smith (Thomas Dekker from the remake of A NIGHTMARE OF ELM STREET), who has visions and dreams that seem to come true and sees people in them that he has yet to meet but does. He has a straight, surfer-dude roommate that he lusts after, and a female best friend named Stella (Haley Bennett), who has a brief but passionate affair with a witch. Smith sometimes sleeps with women, like the sexually aggressive nympho London (Juno Temple), but never fails to have at least one male crush as well. And if all of this is sounding a bit driven by sex, KABOOM is definitely that.
Somehow in the course of the film, the often drug-fueled Smith and his friends discover a secret society that seems determined to make sure the end of the world happens right on time. But is any of this really a threat to humanity or just running the very serious risk of killing Smith's buzz? It's certainly a fun ride finding out. What Araki never fails to do is keep things moving and put forth a film that is spirited, colorful, and shows us a world we've never experienced before he's kicked open the door to it. There's a wonderful naivety to KABOOM, despite its debauchery, and it's extremely easy to get caught up in pulsating rhythms of the film. At its core, this movie is about death, and all of the messed-up stuff we are capable of when we're staring death in the face (or at least think we are).
It's pretty much impossible to get bored during any Gregg Araki film, but KABOOM is something special, disturbing, thrilling, and, as is typical for Araki, dangerous.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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