This is "How to Talk to Girls at Parties"

"How to Talk to Girls at Parties" is a weird little movie.  It looks weird, it sounds weird, and it's full of weird characters who behave in weird ways.  It's an earnest teen romance between a '70s British punk rock enthusiast and a cannibalistic alien tourist, so clearly some weirdness was inevitable, but "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" just revels in its nonconformity.  It enjoys its weirdness, and that enjoyment is very infectious.

So, once upon a time in Croydon in the 1977, a boy named Enn (Alex Sharp) and his best mates Vic (AJ Lewis) and John (Ethan Lawrence), go out for a good time one night, and end up at a mysterious party where Enn meets Zan (Elle Fanning), the lovely and mysterious tourist who may be an alien or may be part of an American space cult.  Zan goes off with Enn and his friends to fall in love and enjoy the local scene, while her "Parent Teacher" Waldo (Tom Brooke) and the group's other leaders fret about her rebelliousness and the upcoming end of their tour - when the "eating" happens. Ruth Wilson, Matt Lucas, and Edward Petherbridge play some of the other aliens, while Nicole Kidman is the proprietor of the local punk club.

Based loosely on a Neil Gaiman short story, and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, there's a distinctly fairy-tale feeling to the film.  It's easy to see Zan as the foreign princess on a Roman Holiday, running off to play young lover and punk rocker, possibly sparking a revolution in the process.  She and Enn share a giddy whirlwind courtship that includes awkward sex and an impromptu rock duet that's the highlight of the film. Elle Fanning is perfectly lovable as the rebellious, innocent Zan.  Her otherworldly demeanor and total lack of guile are a big reason why the character works. And I bought the core relationship between Zan and Enn, which is important because the rest of the film is pretty bonkers.

The alien tourists are both the best and worst thing about the movie.  They come bedecked in bizarre color-coded avant garde outfits that make them look like they were ejected from a Devo video, or possibly Cirque du Soleil.  They mostly don't bother trying to pretend to be human, constantly chatting about prior physical manifestations, the various different space colonies participating in the tour, and eating each other.  They're fascinating to look at and listen to, and are played by several very good actors who gamely wear the ridiculous costumes and sell the ridiculous dialogue. Unfortunately, the film doesn't spend much time really developing them as characters.

The way the story is structured, several major characters aren't introduced until nearly halfway through the movie, and there's not really time to get to know them as well as we probably should.  Ditto Enn's cohorts, John and Vic, whose subplots are so abbreviated that you blink and you miss them. There's not enough time spent on the boys in general, and the whole metaphor of approaching girls being like approaching alien beings gets completely lost.  Several scenes feel messy and rushed, culminating in a poorly considered action finale. Also, any attempt at special effects is pretty dire. I like most of the pieces here, but it feels like quite a few went missing when it came time to assemble the bigger picture.

Still, there's an awful lot that I like about the film.  Nicole Kidman as a punk matriarch is great, and she's clearly enjoying herself in the part.  The kids bring a lot of good energy, the music is suitably rousing, and I like that the love story is so sweet and optimistic.  The movie's just not very well put together on a fundamental level. However, it has all the earmarks of a future cult film, thanks to its subject matter and the people involved.  (The pandering to Neil Gaiman's fanbase is especially obvious.) I'm sure that "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" will eventually find an audience that will cherish it for its strengths and flaws alike.    

And dear god, but I can't wait for someone to attempt cosplaying the aliens.

---