After seeing Resolution and The Endless, I decided to see the only available movie that Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead directed, Spring, until October 23rd when Synchronic may become available though they would not advise us to see it in theaters because global pandemic. Spring follows Evan who takes advice and goes to Italy since his life at home is plummeting precipitously. In Italy, he follows serendipity until a unique person crosses his path that will change his life forever.

Spring is a horror, sci-fi, romantic drama that I really enjoyed. Until Evan is confronted with the surreal, primordial natural world, Benson and Moorhead do an excellent job of creating a sinister mood. Even the cobblestone streets filled with tourists and seemingly tame, safe civilization, known, dangerous nature is burgeoning at the borders, scorpions, spiders, lizards, rot, lacing the frame with death, but because it is familiar, the strangeness and obscene reality of life is taken for granted. There is one person who is always brandishing sharp objects. Some of this imagery just exists, and some of it are signs of a primordial presence that Evan is unwittingly befriending. The directors are deft at getting viewers to be vaguely suspicious of everything before we encounter the actual unknown threat.

I am going to commit sacrilege, but part of me wondered if Ari Aster saw Spring, and visual elements of it inspired Hereditary and Midsommar. If you are not familiar with my movie tastes, I have seen Midsommar so many times so for me to suggest that Benson and Moorhead may be influences is a huge compliment. The jump cuts from night to day, the oversaturation of light upon waking, even the overall trajectory and mood of Spring felt eerily similar though Aster’s film takes a more traditional horror route than this film. It is a gorgeous film that is perfectly edited. I still prefer Midsommar because I did notice the deliberate pace of this movie whereas Midsommar kind of zooms by for me, but it is because this film is not about shock value. The body count is perilously low for a horror movie so if you are looking for a traditional monster movie, you will be disappointed.

Benson and Moorhead are really great at telling stories that would still work without the horror and sci fi elements. They love puzzling about the existence of God, fear of death, and in Spring, being alone and feeling as if things are always falling apart and on the run. I liked that the story kept the audience aware of how precarious Evan’s financial situation was because I am the kind of viewer who would be more bothered that a guy who works at a bar and a cook could afford to go to Italy more than the idea that he met an ancient being that could rip his face off. His Italian under the table job is a nice way to prepare for the surreal encounter that occurs later in the film. He is learning about life after being immersed in death for so many years. Evan’s character development makes him like the kind of person who could encounter the void and survive because he has been doing it for awhile. It did bug me when he does not have his stuff towards the end of the film. I wanted one scene when he made an arrangement to meet his employer to bring his things.

Normally I hate romances, but this one felt well-earned and fairly realistic considering all things, but it seems like a bad idea objectively though subjectively I was rooting for them. I liked Evan’s suspicions. He was not a dumb, oblivious guy who was just happy to get a warm body though he would prefer one. Spring is the first Benson and Moorhead film where a woman is at the forefront and not just a limited supporting character. I was really worried because when a favorite male author tries to write a woman character, it is so disappointing to discover the limits of his versatility, but I liked Louise.

Spring definitely evokes a vagina dentata theme, primal fear of women, but Louise is not a femme fatale. Volcanoes are dangerous, but they make great soil to grow things. Even though we are protective and relate to Evan, instead of depicting her as a threat, she is treated as if she were a protagonist. We get to see her awkwardness, her messiness, her horror and shame at her own situation as if she was an adolescent. When Evan pushes, and she repulses him, we like her more without liking him less. When she can finally be herself, she is hilarious as she reveals that she is a brilliant raconteur. The church scene is my favorite and is closer to an Edgar Wright film meets An American Werewolf in London. Nadia Hilker, who played Luna in The 100, does a superb job in a role that could have easily been polarizing and made her relatable.

When the primordial does appear, Spring left me wanting more. We never get a complete picture of what we are dealing with: lots of long shots, shadows and glimpses. Benson and Moorhead, who should really be more famous than they are, may not have had a lot of money after shooting on location in Italy so it was wise to leave us wanting more. The mythology behind the story threatens to get away from them in one scene that is one long running shot as characters chase after each other while spitting out a lot of prose. I was grateful that later one character did a brief recap to make sure that the audience was still on the same page as the movie. I loved the use of museums, artifacts and paintings. The title of the film is actually appropriate because through the characters and the surreal circumstances, we have seen already witnessed a transformation from winter, death, to spring, life. Everyone, including alleged monsters, are part of a natural cycle of life and death. The horror is the innate smallness and finiteness of being a part of that cycle and facing the possibility of infinite oblivion.

I enjoy that Benson and Moorhead eagerly want to explore a mythical world that departs from our traditional horror tropes of vampire, werewolf, witch or alien. While Resolution and The Endless’ entity is unique and innovative though it shares some subtle movie lineage with other horror and sci-fi movies, this creature feels more reminiscent to Lovecraftian imagery though the explanation is the best scientific reason for a monster to date.

For people who have seen Resolution and The Endless, Spring has a reference to Shitty Carl! So they share the same universe, but it is a little confusing because the actor who plays Chris in those two movies plays a different character in this movie, but is still as affable as ever.

I enjoyed Spring, and while I kept waiting for a shoe that never dropped, I was not disappointed and am pleased at the unexpected meditation on human existence. Benson and Moorhead are definitely one of the leading American filmmakers and my new favorites. They are not one hit wonders.