Menthol
All Films • 22-Sep-2015
Four twenty-something friends relive the days of high school in this drug-soaked micro-budget drama. A bleak film about aimlessness, about empty conversations and empty drug use.The foundation is that awkward period after high school when old friends try to remain intact but are inevitably drifting apart. It’s about the environments they exist in, the clean suburban homes of their parents, their own dirty apartments, the wooded areas where they smoke weed and get drunk. We’re reminded of what mundane life actually looks like without the theatrics of ‘movie world.’ Director Micah Van Hove relies on the casual moment, the everyday conversation. Though practically every scene is littered with drugs and booze, the vibe isn’t quite intoxicating. Visually and thematically, it approximates mumblecore more than drug flick. Its aim is to capture the quiet, truthful moments of friends striving to understand their world, their relationships, their ambition or lack thereof. An admirable effort. -KA.
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