BELLFLOWER (2011)

 

 

 

 

BELLFLOWER

(US - 2011)  Written and directed by Evan Glodell.  Cast: Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman, Tyler Dawson, Rebekah Grandes, Vincent Grashaw.  106 mins.  R.

 

 

It's not every day you get to see a visually stunning, MAD MAX and TWO-LANE BLACKTOP-inspired, apocalyptic breakup movie done on a shoestring budget by a flamethrower and muscle-car building filmmaker who shot the film with a camera that he designed. It's best to go into BELLFLOWER knowing as little as possible, but as with any truly original piece of work, it's not for everybody.

 

 

 

Set in a vaguely surreal modern-day California, the film has best friends and MAD MAX obsessives Woodrow (writer/director Evan Glodell) and Aiden (Tyler Dawson) spending all of their time hanging out, drinking, and building flamethrowers and flame-shooting muscle cars designed to rule the wasteland after the inevitable apocalypse. Woodrow finds his own apocalypse after meeting Milly (Jessie Wiseman), when, after some time, the relationship sours, and...well, he doesn't take it well.

 

 

You simply never know what's going to happen next in BELLFLOWER, one of the most startlingly inventive films of 2011. Love it or hate it, I assure you that you've never seen anything like it.