Overview
In a world where high school students are literally exploding, survival takes on a whole new meaning.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- witty
- irreverent
- anxious
- teen movie night
- dark comedy night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an inventive, funny, and emotionally affecting dark teen comedy that balances gore, tragedy, and romance while highlighting Katherine Langford's performance and Brian Duffield's debut.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Mara and her classmates confront sudden death while trying to define how to live as high-school seniors.
The inexplicable student explosions are presented through blackly comic situations alongside grief and tragedy.
The unexplained explosions transform Mara's high school and immediate social world into a localized survival environment.
Mara and Dylan's relationship develops under the constant possibility of sudden death.
Films like Spontaneous, and why
The Edge of Seventeen
dark teen comedy combining romance, existential uncertainty, and heightened genre violence
The Fault in Our Stars
young-adult romance shaped by mortality, grief, and bittersweet emotional candor
Jennifer's Body
irreverent high-school horror comedy using gore and genre conventions for emotional and social commentary
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
romantic coming-of-age story with surreal catastrophe, melancholy, and dark humor
Movie Details
- Director
- Brian Duffield
- Release Date
- 2020-10-02
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (607)
Cast
- Katherine Langford
- Charlie Plummer
- Yvonne Orji
- Hayley Law
- Piper Perabo
- Rob Huebel
- Marlowe Percival
- Laine MacNeil
- Clive Holloway
- Doralynn Mui
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel
- Rent
- JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Spontaneous about?
- A darkly comic teen romance where inexplicable explosions turn high-school life into an urgent lesson in living.
- What is Spontaneous like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Spontaneous as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Spontaneous violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Spontaneous as graphic.
- What did critics think of Spontaneous?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an inventive, funny, and emotionally affecting dark teen comedy that balances gore, tragedy, and romance while highlighting Katherine Langford's performance and Brian Duffield's debut.
- Which films are like Spontaneous?
- Films with a similar feel include The Edge of Seventeen, The Fault in Our Stars, Jennifer's Body, and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.
- How long is Spontaneous?
- Spontaneous runs 102 minutes.
- Where can I watch Spontaneous?
- In United States, Spontaneous streams on fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel.
