“The suspense and pleasure of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s talking-and-tentacles horror romance Spring lies in discovering what shape the film is going to take.” — Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice
Spring splices the DNA of Before Sunrise and Possession to engender a monster movie at the shoreline of biology and romance.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2015
Spring 2014
Writer-directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead deliver one of the most refreshing genre discoveries in years following their indie breakout Resolution. Like mad cine-scientists, the duo have concocted a heady hybrid which seamlessly weaves the creeping unease of Cronenberg’s bodyhorrors with the European lyricism of Linklater’s Sunrise trilogy.
Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci), a drifter, has to leave town in haste after a bit of biffo lands him in hot water. Fleeing to Europe, he eventually holes up in Bologna, where he falls under the spell of the mysterious Louise, a bewitching beauty who’s in town studying as a geneticist.
The filmmaking duo aren’t interested in rolling out the usual horror set-ups, preferring to spend time with our likeable lovebirds; they slowly turn up the heat on their romance before spooking the audience with the first hint of Lovecraftian creepiness. Swipe right on anyone who looks alluring and set up a date for this pic – your Tinder match will be swept away by the romance before hiding in your lap once the film gets its freak on. — AT