Written and directed by Julian Glander, a teenager in suburban Florida desperately hustles to make $5,000. Voiced by: Jack Corbett, Elsie Fisher, Eva Victor, Julio Torres, Tavi Gevinson, Cole Escola, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Chris Fleming, Miya Folick, River L. Ramirez, Max Wittert and Janeane Garofalo.
A quick way to describe the vibe and look of Boys Go to Jupiter is that it’s like a wholesome, all ages, Nintendo Switch game where you wander around a colourful neighbourhood and meet unusual people and creatures, which is absolutely a compliment. It’s certainly a gigantic leap away from your typical film about teenage boys which is refreshing, especially as Billy 5000 (Jack Corbett) is such a fantastic character. He captures the typical lethargy, hormones and poor hygiene of a teenager but he’s also intelligent, savvy and forever hustling but humble.
It’s impressive that Julian Glander managed to turn what were previously short films of only a few minutes, into a ninety-minute feature. It is exactly the type of move that many have found difficult, to create a new story in a similar style that can sustain itself for almost a hundred times as long, but Glander does it extremely well. It’s cute, funny and unique, it has a slightly hypnotic quality that pulls you in smoothly to enjoy its dreamlike style and quirky writing. There’s a bizarre, slightly dark sense of humour at work that is incredibly understated. It’s delivered in a satisfyingly deadpan manner, so much so that it could sneak past you if you didn’t give it a quick bit of thought.
The atmosphere is somewhere between hipster and the TikTok generation, in a good way. It captures a lot of modern aesthetics while never feeling overly intentional. It flows really well and all the performances by the cast meld together strongly, they each have their own individual personalities but they also feel like parts of one big entity. Jack Corbett is fantastic as Billy, he steps away from the cliches of teen boys and creates something new yet familiar. Miya Folick is another standout as Rozebud with a nice dollop of anti-establishment energy while being entirely unproductive and pure snark, akin to Aubrey Plaza’s April in Parks and Recreation.
Boys Go to Jupiter has a unique animation style that’s utterly modern yet has a surprisingly wholesome feel. Julian Glander creates a huge, vivacious energy while keeping the film understated and calm, there’s a soothing flow to the way that it moves like a wave that carries you along its charming and quirky journey. There’s a superb voice cast and the writing cleverly translates a lot of today’s experiences into something delightfully strange and colourful.
FilmCarnage.com 