‘Sparks’ Review: Elsie Fisher Headlines an Exhilaratingly Fresh and Affecting Queer Teen Indie
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The 'Eighth Grade' star plays the protagonist of Fergus Campbell's feature debut, about a group of teens obsessed with cinema, time travel and each other.
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Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment In the hot, dry climate of Northwest Nevada, a mother drops off her daughter in town, urging her not to come home anytime soon. Cleo ( Elsie Fisher ) looks away as her mom gives her an unearned dressing-down, cruelly reminding her that she is not above her surroundings. She waits until her mother has already driven away before she responds with futile adolescent anger. Cleo is effectively on her own for the rest of the film, with her mother never once appearing. Even when Cleo goes missing later in the film, the audience is never formally introduced to her mother. Instead, first-time director Fergus Campbell drops us directly into Cleo’s world — no parents, no rules and every authority figure is obscured, like the unintelligible adults in Peanuts cartoons. From the film’s hand-painted opening title sequence to the occasional intrusion of illustrations throughout the story, Sparks is the kind of microbudget indie that film festivals were made to showcase. Every frame is crafted with care and love for the cinematic form. Related Stories Movies 'The Dads' Review: Fathers of Trans Kids Support and Advise One Another in an Accessible and Moving Doc Movies "There Are Thousands of Stories Like This": 'THR Presents' Q&A With 'Self Custody' Director Garrett Patten, Star Adrian Grenier Sparks The Bottom Line What indie film festivals were made for. Venue: SXSW Film Festival (Narrative Spotlight) Cast: Elsie Fisher, Charlie Foster, Madison Hu, Denny Mcauliffe, Thomas Deen Baker, Julia D’Angelo, Marshall John Simon, Race Cooper, Simon Downes Toney Director/Writer: Fergus Campbell 1 hour 16 minutes When a book on Jean-Luc Godard pops out of a cigarette machine, Cleo knows where she wants to go. She immediately disappears into the fantasy of 1960s Paris,...
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