Spontaneous will have you simultaneously contemplating your own mortality and igniting your need to seize the day
[Interview with writer/director Brian Duffield ]
Director Brian Duffield talks about how he keeps a positive vibe on set, his experience working with the A-Team cast of Katherine Langford, Piper Perabo, Hayley Law and Charlie Plummer and the difficult balance of keeping a movie about exploding teenagers light and breezy
Here's what happened. Rob was like "Ohmigosh... we're going to talk to Brian Duffield next week about his new movie Spontaneous!" **Crickets** "Jane Got a Gun?" **Crickets** "The Babysitter?" **Crickets** "Underwater...Kristen Stewart? Oh c'mon, you're on a movie podcast!"
So as you can imagine, I was super psyched to check out this dude's movie, who apparently everybody knows, by the way. Per usual, I didn't watch the trailer or read a single thing about the film before starting, which I'm convinced really does make for the best viewing experience. I can't tell how weirdly excited I got when Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why/ Love Simon) came on screen. I love her. Like, love love, her. I'm certain we would be the kind of best friends that snuggle and drink cocoa together on a chilly Fall day.
Katherine Langford in Spontaneous
I digress.
Spontaneous is an absolutely bonkers movie. It's not a spoiler to say that the premise of the movie is that high schoolers are randomly and asymptomatically, spontaneously combusting. It might surprise you to know that this fact ends up being very little of what the movie is about. Instead, Spontaneous explores love and friendship and how you treat every moment differently when you realize that every moment that follows might be your last.
Post-spontaneous combustion of a classmate.
You never feel overtaken by extreme emotions. Duffield balances tragedy with humor and grief with the possibility of tomorrow. We discuss the importance of not overwhelming the audience, with what is a very grim story. At the same time, Duffield aims to infuse just enough shock, that you leave feeling compelled to live your life a little differently.
We hope you enjoy listening to Brian Duffield as much as we did. Spontaneous is available October 2nd on October 6th on VOD.