A sci-fi story centered on the sexual awakening of a group of college students.
To quote one of its characters, Kaboom is nuttier than squirrel shit. Yet it’s good to see the respectability Araki won from 2004’s Mysterious Skin hasn’t sapped his subversive streak.
Kaboom is a riot of wild plot developments which send the film careering from one unexpected scenario to the next, taking its viewers on an increasingly crazy journey. It might not make a whole lot of sense, but for those willing to jump aboard and go with it, it’s unbridled fun.
Gregg Araki's sci-fi is a weird and, just occasionally, wonderful skew on the college comedy. Slight but fun.
Its permanent entry into the cult cannon may be scuppered by its cheap cinematography, and a general lack of charm.
Less an anthem, more a discordant impromptu.
Bright and intoxicating, but too cluttered to be placed alongside the director’s best.
Kaboom, more often that not, comes on like a DayGlo, hyper-sexualised Twilight.
It's a quirky, freaky comedy, designed to be shown at cult "midnight movie" slots. Araki has a light touch; not all directors have.
The result is like a delirious, demented cross between Donnie Darko and Twin Peaks with an undeniably handsome cast and a good deal of film-making skill. Don’t expect it to make a lot of sense but just enjoy the wild trip.
Araki excels at a sardonic kind of cool and writes some scabrously funny dialogue, but his grasp of narrative is woeful – the story here proceeds as though it's literally being made up, moment by moment.
Think Eyes Wide Shut with its legs wide open.
It's the kind of film that refuses to draw lines between what's real and what's hallucination, just as the characters resist defining their identity by sexual orientation.
Sheer carnal joy.
An always intriguing, often very funny, apocalyptic tale.
None of it sticks, but that scarcely matters - it’s a high-sugar, consequence free carnival, vibrant and colourful and utterly loopy.
Profile: Gregg Araki
General release. Check local listings for show times.