Featuring a gorgeous young cast, Kaboom is a hyper-stylized ”Twin Peaks” for the Coachella Generation and tells the story of Smith (Thomas Dekker), an ambisexual 18-year-old college freshman who stumbles upon a monstrous conspiracy in a seemingly idyllic Southern California seaside town.
Smith’s everyday life in the dorms – hanging out with his arty, sarcastic best friend Stella (Haley Bennett,) hooking up with a beautiful free spirit named London (Juno Temple,) lusting for his gorgeous but dim surfer roommate Thor (Chris Zylka) – all gets turned upside-down after one fateful, terrifying night.
Kaboom shares key touchstones of Araki’s early films, including carefully framed Pop Art-like shots, absurd Valley-inflected dialogue, elements of campy gore and Araki’s troupe of arrestingly sexy guys and girls. With his sophisticated synthesis of various experiments in tone and cinematography, Araki has reached a new level of artistic maturity.
The cast of up-and-coming actors includes Thomas Dekker (“A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “My Sister’s Keeper,) Juno Temple (“Atonement,” “Dirty Girl,”) Haley Bennett (“Marley and Me,” Joe Dante’s “The Hole 3D,”) and French actress Roxane Mesquida (“The Last Mistress,” “Sheitan”).
About the Story
Smith is an 18-year-old film student who identifies sexually as “undeclared” with a strong sexual appetite. He has been having strange dreams. He is going to college with his best friend, Stella, whom he has known since junior high. Smith finds a note saying that he is the “chosen son”. He has a roommate, Thor, whom he lusts after, regretting that Thor is straight. Stella goes to a party with Smith, but hooks up with another girl, Lorelei. He recognizes Lorelei as one of the people in his dream. Smith notices a guy, but he is distracted when a red-haired girl from his dream vomits on his shoe. The guy vanishes, but Smith gets picked up by London, a British student. They have sex, but to Smith’s regret she does not want to be with him except during the sex.
Smith visits a nude beach, and meets a man named Hunter. They start to have sex, but Smith is disappointed to hear that Hunter is married. Stella discovers that Lorelei is not only unstable, but also a witch with rejection issues. Stella keeps trying to dump her, but has difficulty as the witch takes over Smith’s body, and later tries to strangle her in the washroom. Stella saves herself by spraying water on the witch, causing her to burn up.
During this time, Smith continues to dream about the red-haired girl. In his dreams, they are both pursued by people wearing animal masks. Smith finds out that the girl was killed, and her head was cut off. He later meets her twin sister, who says that she was kidnapped many years ago by men wearing animal masks. He also meets the guy from the earlier party, and learns his name is Oliver. He is gay and wants to go on a date with Smith.
Smith walks in on Thor and his best friend Rex wrestling in their underwear. Though they are calling each other gay, Stella explains that only straight guys can get away with that. London seduces Rex and convinces him to have a three-way with Smith for his 19th birthday. The animal-masked people finally capture Smith, London, and Smith’s mom. They are bundled into a van to be driven to meet the head of a secret cult. Smith finds out that it is his father (although he was always told that his father died when he was young).
Kaboom
Directed by: Gregg Araki
Starring: Haley Bennett, Thomas Dekker, James Duval, Andy Fischer-Price, Brandy Futch, Juno Temple, Roxane Mesquida, Nicole LaLiberte, Kelly Lynch
Screenplay by: Gregg Araki
Production Design by: Todd Fjelsted
Cinematography by: Sandra Valde-Hansen
Film Editing by: Gregg Araki
Music by: Robin Guthrie, Vivek Maddala, Mark Peters, Ulrich Schnauss
Costume Design by: Trayce Gigi Field
Set Decoration by: Kristen Rajterowski
Art Direction by: J.B. Popplewell
MPAA Rating: None.
Studio: IFC Films
Release Date: January 28, 2011
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