Spring (2015)

A sci-fi-loving friend turned me onto Spring and am I glad! Spring is Before Midnight meets Species, set in Italy. It is a poignant romance with horror/sci-fi elements. It reminds me of Warm Bodies and several foreign films. Its chief appeal is the open, direct relationship that the lovers establish in the here and now: He is not into her merely to satisfy his needs (though she is, initially, for hers). In fact, once he discovers her true (and eons-long) back story, his devotion to her endures. It's a theme that could easily arise out of any number of "monster/alien/other stories" (The Elephant Man, Mask, A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story, Alien Nation, and so on), which is: Could you look someone in the eyes who might cause most people to look (or run) away? Could you look that someone in the eyes, with compassion, understanding, and even love? Could you kiss that someone? Could you be intimate with that someone? Could you commit to remain a partner with that someone? The human/alien interface opens a raft of questions and possibilities beyond merely racial boundaries -- and, I suspect, requires new depths of courage and insight into what it means to share the human spirit. Enjoy! 5 stars. (5-26-2016)