Kaboom (2010)

58% of critics liked it
(88 reviews)
42% of users liked it
(8,445 ratings)

Writer and director Gregg Araki revisits the day-glo universe of sex, drugs, and random perversity that informed his early films in this over-the-top dark comedy. Smith (Thomas Dekker) is an 18-year-old film student who is bisexual and has a ravenous erotic appetite; his best friend is Stella (Haley… More Writer and director Gregg Araki revisits the day-glo universe of sex, drugs, and random perversity that informed his early films in this over-the-top dark comedy. Smith (Thomas Dekker) is an 18-year-old film student who is bisexual and has a ravenous erotic appetite; his best friend is Stella (Haley Bennett), who prefers the company of women but is just as enthusiastic about pursuing new lovers. Smith has been haunted by a series of recurring dreams featuring two beautiful women, one dark and enigmatic, the other similarly spectral with flaming red hair. This wouldn't bother him, except that the women from his dreams have begun appearing in real life -- Lorelei (Roxane Mesquida), Stella's new partner, is a magic aficionado who's a dead ringer for the dark-haired woman, and the red-haired girl (Nicole LaLiberte) is being pursued by a gang of masked assassins. Has Smith stumbled into a plot with possible world-changing consequences? Or is this all just the product of some hallucinogenic cookies he was served at a party? Kaboom received its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: Gregg Araki
Written By: Gregg Araki
Genres: Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 28, 2011 Limited
On DVD: May 31, 2011
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

William Goss, Film.com
Designed to have its own fun, filled to the brim with bangs of all kinds but mostly landing with a whimper.
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
What pop spectacle!
Bruce Demara, Toronto Star
The film is Araki's most ambitious to date, with a quick pace, music that's hip and cool and a mood that alternates between playful and eccentric.
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
All that's truly strange here though is that Araki gets so few jolts or laughs from this hodge-podge of genres.
Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times
The fact that the characters spout snappy, profane dialogue while all this is, or isn't, going on around them is more "fun" than fun; Araki's like the too-drunk guy who won't go home when the party's over.
Tom Long, Detroit News
What's going on? Who cares?
Jordan Farley, SFX Magazine
there's no method to Kaboom's utter-insanity; it crumbles badly in the final minutes and reveals its central mystery as little more than a meaningless whimsy.
Nathaniel Rogers, Film Experience
Araki movies used to feel dangerous. This one feels like underfunded kitsch.
Ben Rawson-Jones, Digital Spy
Enjoy the audacious, electrifying and subversive components thrown at the audience in scattergun style.
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Isn't anarchic and invigorated but sloppy and limp.
Roz Laws, Birmingham Post
While the cast is good-looking, making them wear quirky hats doesn't always work. But, despite all the oddness, it is strangely compelling with some sharp and witty lines.
Ryan Gilbey, Sight and Sound
The tone and production values suggest a mixture of daytime soap, gay porn and Twilight slash-fiction, but the film's greatest asset, as ever with Araki, is sincerity.
Alistair Harkness, Scotsman
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.
Philip French, Guardian [UK]
This is a wild movie in a Lynch-lite mode.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
A very peculiar campus comedy in which the students seem to have abandoned any pretence of intellectual endeavour for a non-stop merry-go-round of bed-hopping.
Catherine Bray, Film4
The soundtrack's the perfect mixtape, the visuals the perfect day-glo trashpop video - just don't expect too much in the way of boring old depth and meaning.
Caroline Jowett, Daily Express
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.
David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]
Think Eyes Wide Shut with its legs wide open.
David Sexton, This is London
Two very different films have been mashed up in Kaboom...
Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph
Watching films whose characters spend much of their time staring at computer screens or waking up from dreams is a bit of a drag.

Read all 25 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Nicki M

Won't be for everyone, but I quite liked it. Visually pretty to look at with an attractive cast. The story is way out there, but anyone who's seen this director's work before knows what to expect - weirdness. If you like a conventional storyline or are homophobic,… More
Won't be for everyone, but I quite liked it. Visually pretty to look at with an attractive cast. The story is way out there, but anyone who's seen this director's work before knows what to expect - weirdness. If you like a conventional storyline or are homophobic, you're probably better to avoid this, but those who like something a little different may find this interesting.
Matheus C

A really trippy gay movie on acid that, while doesn't completely set all its cilinders on fire, delivers 90 minutes of near mindless stilish fun.
Liam G

This film is flat out insane. I have a lot of problems with it, the main one being that it doesn't know whether it wants to be a sex comedy or a science fiction thriller. In the second half of ''Kaboom'', director Gregg Araki abandons the whole aspect of it… More
This film is flat out insane. I have a lot of problems with it, the main one being that it doesn't know whether it wants to be a sex comedy or a science fiction thriller. In the second half of ''Kaboom'', director Gregg Araki abandons the whole aspect of it being a sex comedy and turns it into something completely different. Also, it doesn't flow in any kind of coherent or smooth fashion and doesn't find any rhythm. That being said, it is very ambitious and has a lot going for it. The performances are decent, the direction is solid and the story, despite turning 360 degrees in the second half, proves pretty interesting throughout. It's also got a cool soundtrack going for it as well. ''Kaboom'' almost gets away with some of its massive problems, just by how different and somewhat crazy it is.
Steven C

The one thing you need to know before viewing "Kaboom" is that writer/director Gregg Araki is a pop artist. He is not always concerned with narrative cinema and neither should you when watching his work. "Kaboom" is a kinetic, funny and involving pop spectacle. The… More
The one thing you need to know before viewing "Kaboom" is that writer/director Gregg Araki is a pop artist. He is not always concerned with narrative cinema and neither should you when watching his work. "Kaboom" is a kinetic, funny and involving pop spectacle. The plot (a return to his 'teenage apocalypse' formate from the 90s) is jumpy, interesting and meaningless all at once. "Kaboom" has some fun, beautiful looking actors in a fun, beautiful looking movie. Expect to be disorientated, turned on and turned around because that's what Araki is best at- images, sex and angst.
Jose C

This is a very entertaining, but also extremely bizarre gay-surreal-fantasy/coming-of-age tale of sexual exploration and the end of the world... among other things. The stars are appealing, the visuals colorful and the dialogue sharp and sometimes, hilarious. Worth a look for film… More
This is a very entertaining, but also extremely bizarre gay-surreal-fantasy/coming-of-age tale of sexual exploration and the end of the world... among other things. The stars are appealing, the visuals colorful and the dialogue sharp and sometimes, hilarious. Worth a look for film buffs.
Jeff T

Gregg Araki gets a pass for ever and always for the truly wonderful MYSTERIOUS SKIN. That pass means I'll see whatever he makes. It does not, however, mean I have to like it. His latest, KABOOM, is a pretty mess - full of teen sex of every shape and size, cosmic foofiness and… More
Gregg Araki gets a pass for ever and always for the truly wonderful MYSTERIOUS SKIN. That pass means I'll see whatever he makes. It does not, however, mean I have to like it. His latest, KABOOM, is a pretty mess - full of teen sex of every shape and size, cosmic foofiness and an the-end-is-coming looniness that wants to be fun but is mostly just ridiculous. It also features the enormously appealing Thomas Dekker in the central role, and he buys the increasingly goofy script tons of goodwill, but in the end, not quite enough. At 86 minutes it feels too long, and there are tedious patches that not even near-naked (or completely naked) sex-starved teens can cure. And I thought that could cure anything.
Walter M

In "Kaboom," Smith(Thomas Dekker, of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles), a college freshman, has been having the same dream every night where he sees people from his life, including two women he does not recognize. If that did not keep him up at night, his roommate… More
In "Kaboom," Smith(Thomas Dekker, of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles), a college freshman, has been having the same dream every night where he sees people from his life, including two women he does not recognize. If that did not keep him up at night, his roommate Thor(Chris Zylka) bringing women back to the room most certainly would. That does not stop Chris from having a crush on him and his mighty hammer, though. At least, Smith's best friend, Stella(Haley Bennett), is not as sad, hooking up with Lorelei(Roxane Mesquida) at a party. Lorelei is also one of the unknown women from his dream. The other dreamgirl(Nicole LaLiberte) pukes on his shoes, forcing him to go to the bathroom to get cleaned up where he is propositioned by London(Juno Temple). Written and directed by Gregg Araki, "Kaboom" is first and foremost wicked fun. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Araki is depicting college as a first taste of freedom away from parents to explore all sorts of things, especially sexuality and drugs.(Keeping with the educational themes, there is a tutorial on cunnilingus. Pay attention. There will be a quiz later, guys.) For a while, I was concerned the movie was getting close to "Donnie Darko" territory but "Kaboom" is a whole different kind of crazy altogether. There is a question of what's real and not, but after a while, I stopped caring and just relaxed. However, the movie could have found a better place to end which happens suddenly after wrapping up all 42 plot strands at once while moving at 80 miles per hour.
Alec B

Its like some bizarre cross between 'Donnie Darko' and the dialogue of 'Juno' with cast compromised of nothing but people who have bodies chiseled from marble. It has moments but overall it pretentiousness is undeserved and the ending is stupid . . . so, so stupid.
Mike T

Visual flair, a talented cast and a great soundtrack cannot save Araki's directionless script and misguided execution. Very disappointing.
Danny R

Director Gregg Araki's latest film "Kaboom" is a unhinged, candy-colored gonzo teen sex fantasy and apocalyptic cult thriller. It can also be described as a engaging acid-trip, a crazy combination of Twin Peaks, Donnie Darko and The X-Files, with some truly funny… More
Director Gregg Araki's latest film "Kaboom" is a unhinged, candy-colored gonzo teen sex fantasy and apocalyptic cult thriller. It can also be described as a engaging acid-trip, a crazy combination of Twin Peaks, Donnie Darko and The X-Files, with some truly funny scenes, and some eerie ones that has to be seen to be believed. It concerns the sexual exploits of a handsome perpetually horny, and awkward 18-year-old bi-sexual college freshman named Smith, played by Thomas Dekker in a solid performance who spends his days fantasizing and lusting after the object of his affection, his hot and frequently naked, dumb as a log, heterosexual surfer roommate, Thor, well played by Chris Zylka and hanging out with his best friend a sassy lesbian named Stella, nicely played by Haley Bennett. Strange things begin to happened when people in Smith's recurring dream begin to show up in real life, Men wearing animal masks start stalking him, and there is a subplot about a murderous cult trying to bring an end to the world, in between the lesbian witches, crazy animal-mask wearing cultists, and a college campus populated by promiscuous teens who spend all their time having lots of sex, both gay and straight and everything in between. Director Araki has brilliantly captured a real 1980s kitsch feel to this very strange but amusing film, which is without a doubt not for the ultra-conservative or homophobic crowd. So if you appreciate the bizarre, i think you will have a hell of a good time with quirky film. Highly recommended.