Sparks

😀 Sparks, dir. Fergus Campbell, 2026, USA, 76 min.
Thursday, June 25, 8:30 PM, Roxie Theater
🌊 West Coast premiere

Sparks

Frameline blurb: Guided by Godard, styled like Araki, yet uniquely its own, Sparks is a wonderfully eccentric first feature about a bohemian group of misfits looking to escape the teenage wasteland of their small town. In their free time, the crew watch Jean-Luc Godard films in an abandoned drive-in they squat at and take monthly treks to a local reservoir, which they believe holds a time-traveling portal. After a new member named Cleo takes the urban myth to heart, she finds that running back to the past might not help her avoid her future.

Elsie Fisher (Eight Grade) gives an excellent performance as Cleo, a girl obsessed with the French New Wave, desperate to travel back to the movement’s birthplace in 1960s France. With an ensemble that also includes Denny McAuliffe (God Save the Queens, Frameline47) and former Disney Channel star Madison Hu, Sparks comes to life thanks to the rich chemistry within “The Crop.” At times melancholic, while other times hilariously bizarre, writer/director Fergus Campbell’s debut offers a visually striking and surreal journey worth hitching onto.

My take: First, a shout out to Burners: the opening credits feature Build Week Productions, and some of the filming was in Gerlach, so you’re clearly among fellow travelers. Basically, you’ve got a bunch of bored teenagers spending their summer vacation finding something to do, looking for fake IDs to help them get beer, and making a little money with a side hustle. Cleo is the new girl in town, moved in with a mother she barely tolerates, but her addition to the group shifts some of the dynamics, most saliently around the monthly ritual where the group tries to activate the supposed time travel portal.

The story is reasonably amusing, with a few moments where the characters take on unexpected depth, and it’s clear that queerness is not a big issue, so I’ll give it a recommended.

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