A man finds love with a woman with a monstrous secret in Spring. Following the death of his mother, Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci) goes into a personal tailspin, which includes getting into a bar fight that costs him his job. Looking for a change of scenery, Even travels to Italy and gets a job working on a farm, in exchange for lodging. Even meets a beautiful young woman named Louise (Nadia Hilker) and the two begin a passionate romance with each other. However, Louise has a dark secret, which might put a wedge into their relationship. Spring in the second film from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, following their 2012 meta horror/comedy Resolution. One thing that is immediately apparent when watching Spring in comparison to Resolution is a vast improvement of filmmaking prowess. Despite being a very intriguing film plot-wise, Resolution was also very obviously an independent production. On the other hand, Spring has some real production value behind it, which includes the fact that the film was actually shot on location in Italy. One thing that is very pleasantly surprising about Spring is now touching the film is as a romance. While the film does have a heavy horror element to it, due to the fact that Louise happens to transform into monstrous creatures, the film ultimately becomes about Evan wanting to be with Louise, despite her condition. Horror and romance are not two genres that are often mixed together and I would have to say that Spring gets the combination just right. While the romance between Evan and Louise is the main driving force of the film, there are still moments of suspense and even a jump scare or two. As I alluded to earlier, Spring is a very well made film, with many picturesque visuals of the Italian landscape. Much of the creature effects in the film are done practically and look quite well-done on screen. Also, the film probably gives one of the more scientifically plausible explanations for Louise's transformations, which actually makes sense, in a weird kind of way. It would have been very easy for Spring to go in a very clichéd direction and become a typical tragic “romance with a monster” film, which exists all throughout the horror genre. However, Spring makes the very smart decision of focusing more on the romance than the horror, which really helps to turn this film into something special. ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 | REALLY LIKED IT Spring is playing this week at Cineplex Yonge and Dundas and will be available on blu-ray in Canada on June 2.
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