From director Neil Triffett comes the latest breath of fresh air in the fight against to the repetitive Hollywood blockbuster machine, Emo The Musical, which throws together a the bassist of an angsty teenage band and the beautiful lead singer of a holier-than-thou Christian group.
Lucy Barret, Ben Bennet, Rahart Adams and Benson Jack Anthony.
After Ethan (Benson Jack Anthony) is kicked out of his old school, he just wants to start afresh. To his delight, he is accepted into the emo band Worst Day Ever, and settles into a life of eyeliner and tight black jeans. But when the school’s church band The Hope Group decides to go up against them in the local band competition, Ethan is crippled by his crush on the Hope Group’s beautiful lead singer Trinity (Jordan Hale).
Jon Prasida, Jordan Hare, Craig Hyde-Smith and Geraldine Viswanathan.
Emo The Musical is expanded from Triffett’s 2014 short film of the same name, and it a blackly comic exploration of high school crushes gone wrong. It’s Romeo and Juliet crossed with Glee, with the aesthetics of a mid 2000s Green Day album cover, the backdrop of middle-class Australian suburb and the music of a straight-up satirical genius.
Benson Jack Anthony stars as Ethan.
What keeps the film bubbling along nicely is the awkward chemistry between Ethan and Trinity. Both are compelling young actors who have the talent to play their characters straight in a film that relies on deadpan humour for its weird yet wonderful satire. The two are thrown together on a song-writing assignment, and what follows is a hilarious but recognisable situation where two teenagers in the throes of their first crush attempt to act normal and impress one another.
Jordan Hare stars as Trinity.
The songs are without a doubt the best part of the film. Jesus Could Have Been An Emo has to be one of the funniest tunes ever written. For example, the line: “He felt the pain of all mankind / Emos do that all the time” had the audience in stitches. Not to mention that the character’s singing voices sound real and slightly raw, a refreshing antidote to the auto-tuned singing voices we’ve come to expect.
Lucy Barrett as Roz.
Triffett’s inexperience directing a feature-length film starts to show in the second half as the story starts the lag, the plot doesn’t quite come together and the ending is less than impressive. But there’s plenty of quirks make up for it – when the school needs a sponsor, a pharmaceutical corporation selling serotonin supplements becomes a donor and peppers Seymour High School with posters and the teachers with free samples. It also broaches the subject of the relentless task to fitting in during high school in a way that is both ironic and nostalgic – the band member’s relentless quest to out-emo each other is a recurring joke.
Ben Bennet, Rahart Adams, Benson Jack Anthony and Lucy Barret.
There’s also a wonderful diversity to the cast – there’s Sri Lankin, Chinese, gay, pregnant, Christian and red-headed students – who are integral to the story rather than played for cheap laughs. There’s also hilarious yet touching moment where a closeted Christian gay student sings to his boyfriend to stop him from going to conversion camp.
Jon Prasida, Jordan Hare, Craig Hyde-Smith and Geraldine Viswanathan.
It’s musical parody and subculture satire at it’s very best, with the fresh-faced innocence and energy of the inexperienced cast adding charm and realness to the film that big-budget blockbusters just can’t achieve. Overall, the film is a bit of a eyeliner-soaked mess, but it’s an intensely loveable and charming one that will appeal to former, current and aspiring emos the world over.
Click here for the trailer. Emo The Musical opens in limited release on May 2.
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