In Julian Glander’s debut feature, a High School dropout drifts around a hyper-color suburbia, attempting to get his life back on track by making some cold, hard cash.
Slice of Life and Coming of Age vibes are rolled together with a Video Game/Vapourware aesthetic, and filled with Iconic (and Ironic) Mumblecore dialogue about the state of the world. All cushioned by Shoegazey, Dream Pop musical numbers. That’s right, it’s kind of a musical.
In Boys Go To Jupiter, come see the wonders of Florida! Deliver Grub to the locals; stumble upon the mysterious Spaghetti Critic; take a tour around “Big Juice”, and perhaps even frolic with an alien. All while being peripherally bombarded by Capitalism, Evangelicals, and winks to the current generation’s obsession with hustle culture.
Glander’s background working for Adult Swim translates perfectly to the Indie micro-budget genre. With plenty of nods to Cartoon Network’s renaissance: shows like Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time, J.G. Quintel’s Regular Show, and even a sprinkling of The Amazing World of Gumball. It is a cohesive homage.
More in line with Ward & Quintel’s adult-angled content, like Midnight Gospel and Close Enough, respectively, Boys Go To Jupiter sits beautifully within the pantheon of feel-good-yet-not-too-good, surreal adult animation. You are guided down a Lazy River of gentle existentialism, in a donut of meditation.
Most children’s animated features have an undercurrent of the Coming-of-Age story, but this feels more in line with live-action indie fare, like Juno, Licorice Pizza, or Paris, Texas. Taking art cinema ennui, and spinning it with animation gives it an adolescent nostalgia; the melancholic nature of moving into adulthood, whether you like it or not.
The landscape is quintessential Postcard Porn. Motels, Diners, and Mini Golf seemlessly juxtaposed against propaganda and corporate greed. Yet, everything is painted with the same spectrum of Cocktail-coloured festivity, heightening how “subliminal” messaging is ingrained into the wholesome surroundings.
BGTJ was created in the free, open-source program, Blender, which gained global attention with last year’s Oscar-winning animated feature from Latvia, “Flow”. The film’s textures are rich, the physics are smooth, and the lighting and camera work feel limitless. At times, it appears modest, and at others, completely cinematic.
All of the characters are weird and adorable, oozing with Glander’s signature style. It’s familiar, yet noteworthy. His website is overflowing with previous work, and it’s all very impressive. The characters wouldn’t seem out of place in any Pop Culture zeitgeist.
The voice cast is a dream for any comedy lover. The core squad is made up of Jack Corbett (Our Protagonist), Miya Folick (The love interest), Janeane Garofalo (The Villain), and Tavi Gevinson (The Alien). With a strong ensemble cast featuring notables, Sarah Sherman (SNL), Cole Escola (Oh, Mary), Julio Torres (Problemista), Demi Adejuyigbe (Game Changer), and Elsie Fisher (Despicable Me)
Although the territory of BGTJ is loosely Science Fiction, you won’t be getting Futurama’s goofs and gaffs.
This film angles towards Comedy rather than Dramedy, but it’s more warm and fuzzy than hilarious. It chooses to sit in that dry, stoner-comedy place, but it complements the world nicely. Anything heavy-handed might ruin the mystique.
I did have a had a hard time hanging on at first because the plotting is loose, but that’s what places this film in the Slice of Life genre, over anything else. A series of characters going on their own journeys, which ebb and flow and occasionally overlap. Considering this, it does a great job of tying things up in the third act with a satisfying ending.
You’ll smile and chuckle while tapping your feet to the hip tunes, and on occasion, you’ll say WTF!!!
Thanks to Cartuna and Irony Point, BGTJ opens in New York at the IFC Centre from August 8 and screens from August 15 at over 40 theatres, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and more. For more details and theatrical dates, visit boysgotojupiterfilm.com.
“Taking art cinema ennui, and spinning it with animation gives it an adolescent nostalgia; the melancholic nature of moving into adulthood, whether you like it or not“
