Film Review: Gregg Araki’s ‘Kaboom’ Merrily Enters the Ontological Void

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CHICAGO – Rarely has the apocalypse appeared as trivial as it does in “Kaboom,” a disarmingly lovable mess of a picture that manages to work in spite of itself. It’s the tenth feature film directed by Queer New Wave icon Gregg Araki, who seems to be in an infinitely better mood than he was fifteen years ago, back when the Reagan era’s ignorance of the AIDS crisis was still festering like an open wound.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

Araki’s anger was clearly reflected in his wildly controversial 1995 effort, “The Doom Generation,” which culminated in a hate-fueled bloodbath set to the tune of “The Star Spangled Banner.” The world always seemed to be in a perpetual state of ending throughout much of his earlier work, as young photogenic characters killed time and made love before hurtling toward some ambiguous inferno of doom. In purely structural terms, “Kaboom” has all the earmarks of classic Araki, though it is clearly the work of a more assured and content filmmaker.

StarRead Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Kaboom” in our reviews section.

2004’s “Mysterious Skin,” a galvanizing portrait of two men haunted by sexual abuse, is still the most powerfully raw and wholly satisfying film Araki has made. It demonstrated a newfound maturity and stylistic confidence that has been reflected though never quite equaled in his later work. “Kaboom” could’ve easily been the forgotten draft of an Araki script from the mid-’90s recently unearthed by the bemused filmmaker and put into production. I can imagine Araki sitting behind the camera with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. The film is an unabashedly cinematic celebration of liberated sexuality and free-flowing creativity, without any regard to a coherent plot. Every time the characters pause to make sense of the surrounding chaos, their dialogue functions as little more than expositional excess. There is no mystery here to be solved and no clues to be found. It’s a valid possibility that the looming apocalypse could merely be taking place within the heightened mind of the film’s protagonist, Smith (Thomas Dekker), a film major as uncertain about his own sexuality as he is about the future of his favored art form (and his home planet, for that matter).

‘Kaboom’ stars Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Juno Temple, Chris Zylka, Andy Fischer-Price, Brennan Mejia, Jason Olive, Roxanne Mesquida, Kelly Lynch and James Duval. It was written and directed by Gregg Araki. It opened Feb. 18 at the Music Box and is available through Video On Demand. It is not rated.

StarContinue reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “Kaboom” review.

Juno Temple, Thomas Dekker and Haley Bennett star in Gregg Araki’s Kaboom.
Juno Temple, Thomas Dekker and Haley Bennett star in Gregg Araki’s Kaboom.
Photo credit: IFC Films

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