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Kaboom

Play trailer Poster for Kaboom Released Jan 28, 2011 1h 26m Comedy Drama Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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60% Tomatometer 103 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Smith (Thomas Dekker), a typical young college student who likes partying and engaging in acts of random sex and debauchery, has been having some interesting dreams revolving around two gorgeous women -- and is shocked when he meets the dream girls in real life. Lorelei (Roxane Mesquida) looks just like his fantasy brunette, while a mysterious red-haired girl (Nicole LaLiberte) being chased by assassins draws him into an international conspiracy. Or is it all just a drug-induced hallucination?

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Kaboom

Kaboom

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Critics Consensus

Jumbled and shallow yet easy to watch, Kaboom is a one-night stand that isn't meant to lead anywhere -- but is fun enough while it lasts.

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Critics Reviews

View All (103) Critics Reviews
J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Funny, scary, and exuberant, Kaboom delivers the goods as both a generational marker and a tale of things to, uh, come. May 29, 2020 Full Review Eric Kohn indieWire Mixing the sexual curiosity of "Doom Generation" with the kooky style of "Smiley Face," this admittedly uneven, undeniably wild and trippy comedy-fantasy-romance-thriller has a lot going on. May 29, 2020 Full Review Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Isn't anarchic and invigorated but sloppy and limp. Rated: C- Jun 16, 2011 Full Review Tim Stevens The Spool It’s a glass of skim milk to the “Teen Apocalypse Trilogy” ’s heavy cream. Jun 30, 2023 Full Review David Lamble Bay Area Reporter This Gregg Araki joint is an absurd blend of sex and mayhem. Jun 16, 2020 Full Review Melissa Leong National Post Araki simply seems to be having fun here - the crazy, drunken college kind - at the expense of the audience and even his characters, who don't know what exactly is going on most of the time. Rated: 2/5 May 29, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (393) audience reviews
PridePosterStudios There’s nothing, no one and nowhere to like in this film. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 06/21/24 Full Review dave s Kaboom is a muddled mess of a movie. Picture a game where a bunch of random words are thrown into a hat. Draw five words from the hat and cobble together a script using the five words selected. In this case, the words are as follows: dreams, sex, cults, apocalypse, masks. In the case of Kaboom, the loser of the game is the sucker that winds up watching this piece of crap. It's hard to imagine anyone coming up with any redeeming qualities for this mess, other than the possible fact that most of the characters are really good looking and that most of them manage to get naked at some point over the course of the movie. Yeah, that'd be about the only reason to waste time on this. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Not my type of movie 2.0. The ending was pretty dumb Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/22/20 Full Review Audience Member Mmh, as unsure about this one as I was before watching it. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member I've watched most of Greg Araki's films, whether online, at school, or by accident. In university I was directed to several of his movies, for his wild and outrageous plot-lines, and desolate themes of helplessness. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but I did enjoy the 90's drug escapade "Nowhere"(1997), which was a precursor to many well known stars of the early 2000 era. Araki leads viewers on a non-oriented vision of college life, complete with all the oddball events of his previous films, but ends up as a rather dull entry. For most of the movie the viewer is listening to our main character (known only as Smith), discuss the trials and tribulations of his young adult life. Bi-sexual, awkward, unfocused, and generally ignorant of other people around him, we are forced into his fantasies, absurd lifestyle, and unrealistic grip on reality. Sounds like fun right? Well, unfortunately you'd be wrong. The events that we witness unbearably forced, despite its unnatural and science-fiction theme. I felt most of the actors were just terribly strained and the unnatural dialogue between characters only draws attention to the situation. I think the actors were just terribly tedious in their delivery, and before long, I found there wasn't as single one that was believable. As with most drug riddled, and absurdist films, this movie has some interesting happenings. There is everything from serial killers to witchcraft here, and they certainly match Araki's usual plot-lines. Some are pretty amusing, and somewhat surreal, while others simply fall flat and actually take away from the enjoyment of the film. Several of them (if not most) have no significance to anything at all, and they leave you with the feeling that Araki is trying his hardest to stay relevant in his own way. I didn't mind the craziness, in fact, I was expecting it. However, by the end of the film, you find yourself more than confused (which is probably his goal in the first place). If you're a fan of Araki, you'll probably like this film very much. I didn't really think it had anything to offer besides that "WTF is happening" feeling he brings to movies. An irrelevant event with an abrupt ending. 2/5 Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member I've watched most of Greg Araki's films, weather online or by accident. In university I was directed to several of his movies, for his wild and outrageous plot-lines, and desolate themes of helplessness. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but I did enjoy the 90's drug escapade "Nowhere"(1997), which was a precursor to many well known stars of the early 2000 era. Araki leads viewers on a non-oriented vision of college life, complete with all the oddball events of his previous films, but ends up as a rather dull entry. For most of the movie the viewer is listening to our main character (known only as Smith), discuss the trials and tribulations of his young adult life. Bi-sexual, awkward, unfocused, and generally ignorant of other people around him, we are forced into his fantasies, absurd lifestyle, and unrealistic grip on reality. Sounds like fun right? Well, unfortunately you'd be wrong. The events that we witness unbearably forced, despite its unnatural and science-fiction theme. I felt most of the actors were just terribly strained and the unnatural dialogue between characters only draws attention to the situation. I think the actors were just terribly tedious in their delivery, and before long, I found there wasn't as single one that was believable. As with most drug riddled, and absurdist films, this movie has some interesting happenings. There is everything from serial killers to witchcraft here, and they certainly match Araki's usual plot-lines. Some are pretty amusing, and somewhat surreal, while others simply fall flat and actually take away from the enjoyment of the film. Several of them (if not most) have no significance to anything at all, and they leave you with the feeling that Araki is trying his hardest to stay relevant in his own way. I didn't mind the craziness, in fact, I was expecting it. However, by the end of the film, you find yourself more than confused (which is probably his goal in the first place). If you're a fan of Araki, you'll probably like this film very much. I didn't really think it had anything to offer besides that "WTF is happening" feeling he brings to movies. An irrelevant event with an abrupt ending. 2/5 Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Kaboom

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Movie Info

Synopsis Smith (Thomas Dekker), a typical young college student who likes partying and engaging in acts of random sex and debauchery, has been having some interesting dreams revolving around two gorgeous women -- and is shocked when he meets the dream girls in real life. Lorelei (Roxane Mesquida) looks just like his fantasy brunette, while a mysterious red-haired girl (Nicole LaLiberte) being chased by assassins draws him into an international conspiracy. Or is it all just a drug-induced hallucination?
Director
Gregg Araki
Producer
Gregg Araki, Sebastian K. Lemecier, Andrea Sperling
Screenwriter
Gregg Araki
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Desperate Pictures
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 28, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$116.5K
Runtime
1h 26m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS
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