Slash

Freshman Neil (Michael Johnston)'s Vanguard stories are all he cares about... until he meets the older Julia (Hannah Marks), who pushes him to put his own fan fiction online. When the website's moderator (Michael Ian Black) takes a special interest in Neil's work, it opens up a whole new universe.

Going in to this film without knowing much might result in a bit of confusion. All I knew was that the film was called "Slash" and it was classified as a comedy. So, my assumption was that it must be a horror-comedy riffing on slasher films. Well, that assumption was wildly incorrect. This is not a horror-comedy, it has nothing to do with slashers. Even the "comedy" aspect might be inaccurate, as it is really more of a coming-of-age drama for the social outcasts.

What the title actually refers to is "slash fiction", a world completely foreign to me. I've been on the Internet long enough to know about fan fiction (and maybe, possibly, I dabbled in it back in the 90s). And obviously it would be inevitable that fictional characters end up in romantic or sexual situations. But slash fiction is more specific, focusing on the homosexual relationships of fictional characters, such as Kirk/Spock (read: Kirk-slash-Spock). For those who are curious, look up "slash fiction" on Wikipedia and you'll quickly realize this is not only a thing, but a whole culture with conventions, a myriad of subgroups and more. Mind blown? Oh yeah.

Writer-director Clay Liford previously made the short film "Slash" (2012) about a 13-year old writing erotic Harry Potter fan fiction. When adapting to a full-length feature, the character has been adjusted to 15 (probably a safe move) and the fiction is now on the invented character of Vanguard. Certainly, this change was done for legal reasons, but there are still offhand references in the film of well-known characters involved in these situations: we have "ninja turtle bondage", Gandalf hooking up with Dumbledore, and even the dreaded Brady Bunch incest fantasy. What a world!

Although the film takes place in this world (which may be attractive or repulsive to different people), the heart of the story is really in the interaction between the two lead characters. Neil is at a rough stage in his life, not knowing if he is gay or straight, and finding himself rejected by everyone. Michael Johnston (TEEN WOLF) plays Neil about as insecure and awkward as anyone ever on the big screen, which is exactly right. Julia (Hannah Marks, DIRK GENTLY) is his extroverted counterpart and really steals the show, but her outgoing nature is really just a cover-up for her own insecurities. She is caught between her true self (an elf-loving geek) and being the disrespected puppet of her on-again, off-again boyfriend (Peter Vack, MOZART IN THE JUNGLE), much to Neil's dismay and consternation.

Although the "fantastic" elements of the film are not the focus and only show up when Neil is writing, a special note of appreciation has to go to the effects, makeup and costume departments. The Vanguard segments look amazing, and if a decent script was written, these characters could actually be developed into a viable franchise. The costume for the villain in particular had such a distinct, captivating look… like a futuristic Skeletor, perhaps?

Lastly, worth calling out are Lauren Sanders and Curtis Heath for their composing, which had hints of "Turbo Kid" or the music of Disasterpiece (IT FOLLOWS). Although there was a fair amount of music that wasn't original to the film, the score that came from these two was really something, and again would be welcome alongside a full-length Vanguard story.

In short, "Slash" is a great film about coming of age in a world that remains unwelcoming to outsiders. Whether gay or straight (or anything in between or beyond), if you've ever felt like you never quite fit in or weren't appreciated, you will identify with Neil in some way. His journey and yours are likely radically different, but the message remains the same: adolescent is all about embracing who you are, overcoming the odds, and never letting the haters see you cry. "Slash" premieres at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 16 in front of an audience who will know this was a story written just for them.

I saw this movie, with friends, at the 2016 Cucalourus Film Festival. The movie's name was interesting enough to make me want to see it, as well as the premise of fan fiction (PS I didn't know what Slash fiction was before seeing this movie). So, I entered the screening not even knowing what to expect (which sometimes works, and sometimes not so much) and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the film was funny and sweet. I also thought the two leads had chemistry. I recommend this movie

Paid for this on demand. I liked the premise, liked the lead characters and the actors that played them. Michael Ian Black was good as well. Couldn't get into the characters motives. Weak screenplay or direction or both. Wait for this to come to Netflix and judge for yourself. It's like a movie anyone could basically make on their iPhone. The question is should they. There's much better teen comedies out there than this wannabe. I really wanted to like this and the redeeming parts are because of the genuine warmth and chemistry of the two leads. Felt like the slash part was written in for the sake of being different. It was irrelevant and almost upstaged the characters and story. If it was just another element of story it could've been something better and maybe an actual teen comedy.

"I don't want to wake up in a year and stab my parents to death with a kitchen knife."

"Well that makes one of us." (dialog, Michael Johnston talking to Hannah Marks at the 1:01 timestamp.)

Despite the relatively low IMDb score, Slash 2016 is a joy.

If you read the third-party reviews, you will note a tug of war between critics who think it is some form of uber-social commentary, and those who look at it as a sweet and engaging love story or rom-com.

The answer is probably somewhere in the middle, but this reviewer was more engaged by the teen rom-com.

For two reasons.

One, because the "classic" age of the teen rom-com seems to have passed -- remember Freddie Prinze? -- and this genre is neither as popular as it once was, nor as well done. Two, because that aspect of the film does not merely work, it actually spreads its wings and soars.

Credit writer/director Clay Liford for getting this recipe right. As I have noted in other reviews, a lot of what used to considered movie fare is now being done on TV, and a lot of the more personal creative work we used to see on some TV shows is migrating to film.

The dialog at the top of this review is typical of the film -- sharp, funny, and oddly reminiscent of the old Woody Allen rom-coms (with Johnston doing the neurotic Woody character, and Marks doing a wonderful collage of Diane Keaton liberally mixed with early Angelina Jolie.)

Marks is the revelation in the film. For these rom-coms to work (and this one does) she has to go beyond merely playing a character, she has to be (for the male viewer) every idiosyncratic girl in high-school that you wanted to get to know better -- but didn't.

Marks engages, holds the attention, and carries the film. An actress to watch down the road.

Recommended.

I saw Slash at BAM Cinemafest 2016 last night. It was certainly a crowd-pleaser. The story starts as "innocent, studious, repressed 15-year-old boy meets wild, unruly, sassy girl" and goes from there. It could take many directions, but it chooses a realistic, rather unsure and zigzaggy route, which reflects perfectly the confusion and indecision of the coming-of-age state. I expected the highlights to be the bad fan fic being read out loud awkwardly and the imagined sexual encounters of the burly sci-fi hero, Vanguard, but though these were all extremely hilarious and entertaining, I was surprised to find the emotional scenes about belonging, friendship, love, betrayal also vibrant and smart. The leads are great. Jessie Ennis rocks!