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How to Talk to Girls at Parties
Romantic comedy, Science Fiction
It’s a loving tribute to the punk era, a send-up of the punk era, a sci-fi potboiler, a screed against climate change and an earnest love story. It’s also none of those things, because it doesn’t have the slightest idea what it’s doing. Punk wannabe Enn (Alex Sharp) and his two doltish friends crash what they think is a party, but is actually a house filled with alien squatters who want to experience Earth for 48 hours, then exit, and then apparently eat their offspring. Poor Elle Fanning! She’s an alien named Zan who comes across like Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black (read: dumb). Sharp fares better, but he plays his character straight, which doesn’t work in this winking genre mish-mash. Plus, the period detail feels like “1977” and not 1977. I kept hoping someone would devour Enn or one of his friends, but nah. At least that would have been punk-ish. Add a terrifically miscast Nicole Kidman—I had no idea she could be so bad—and a bloated running time, and you’ll still have no idea, in the end, how to talk to girls at parties.
Official Site: a24films.com/films/how-to-talk-to-girls-at-parties
Director: John Mitchell
Producer: Iain Canning, Howard Gertler, John Mitchell, Emile Sherman, Peter Fornstam, Neil Gaiman, Rose Garnett, Hugo Heppell, Josie Ho, Winnie Lau and Michael Werner
Cast: Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Wilson, Matt Lucas, Lara Peake, Eloise Smyth, Ethan Lawrence, Hebe Beardsall, Tom Brooke, Joey Ansah, Alice Sanders and Jumayn Hunter
Director: John Mitchell
Producer: Iain Canning, Howard Gertler, John Mitchell, Emile Sherman, Peter Fornstam, Neil Gaiman, Rose Garnett, Hugo Heppell, Josie Ho, Winnie Lau and Michael Werner
Cast: Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Wilson, Matt Lucas, Lara Peake, Eloise Smyth, Ethan Lawrence, Hebe Beardsall, Tom Brooke, Joey Ansah, Alice Sanders and Jumayn Hunter
