Rating: 2.5/5
Oh My Horror 2025 | 39/52 | Fall Horror
The early morning sky is cornflower and candy floss. A window is shattered at the school, with blood lining the broken edges. Inside, a trail of blood leads to a dying deer in the cafeteria. Later, kids arrive, and teachers lead the kids out as the police put the deer out of its misery. Allison watches through the door window as one officer holds the deer down and the other stomps on its head.
Cut to Zach and Josh looking at their yearbook, a signal-scrambled premium channel on the television. This must be the 90s. Zach finds the girls in his grade cute, but Josh finds something wrong with each of them. They can agree on one girl: Allison. They head out on their bikes through the fog-dappled small town. At the convenience store, they run into Daryl and Charlie. Daryl freaks out when he finds dried squid in the store, convinced no one eats it, so they buy it and dare each other to eat it. And, of course, they act like it’s the grossest thing they’ve put in their mouths (well, except Josh, who seems to love being contrarian).
Now that we’ve established that these teenage boys all suck tremendous ass, we watch them continue to be asshats. Zach and Josh get invited to Allison’s birthday. Daryl starts hanging out with them. Josh’s brother shipped off to the Marines, but his stuff is still in the house, tickling Daryl’s curiosity. Josh shows off his brother’s katana. Daryl secretly steals some weed from Josh’s brother, too. They fill milk cartons with water and slash through them. Daryl rolls one up and smokes it, igniting a fight between Josh and Daryl.
What happens next will fuck up their lives.
The film seems to be going for a blend of Stand by Me with that nostalgia-bent eye of Stranger Things (or something). It’s tough to stick with them when I just want them to get what they deserve.
The movie sort of devolves into vibes with dream sequences, surreal experiences, and syrupy synths. Not necessarily complaining, but it feels like a separate movie starts up.
The movie kicks back into gear for the third act to give us some necessary tension. Still, it doesn’t seem to add up to much in the end.
** Stray Thoughts **
- Daryl is supposed to be obnoxious but funny. He’s just obnoxious.
- Zach’s mom is cool. Like, whose mom is that cool?
- The movie does a good job of making the katana feel dangerous.
- No boys in 1996 were touching each other’s cheeks as much as Josh and Zach do each other.
- Also, no Macarena anywhere?