The Body Horror Romance Spring Is The Perfect Way To Ring In The Season

March 20 marks the official beginning of spring. Separately, there have been a lot of new and exciting series premiering in the last few weeks, including Daredevil: Born Again. Born Again boasts the talents of directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, MCU regulars who worked on Moon Knight and the second season of Loki. But outside of their Marvel TV work, Benson and Moorhead are known for their experimental sci-fi films like The Endless, Synchronic, and Something in the Dirt. With Born Again out and spring in the air, now’s a perfect time to revisit one of the pair’s more underrated movies: the 2014 body horror romance Spring. 

The film centers on Evan Russell (Lou Taylor Pucci), a man grieving the loss of his mother to cancer. After getting into a violent confrontation after his mom’s funeral and subsequently losing his job, Evan figures it’s as good a time as any to get the hell out of dodge and clear his head. After booking a one-way ticket to Italy on a whim, Evan hitches a ride to the coast with a pair of backpackers on holiday and meets Louise (Nadia Hilker). The two strike up a whirlwind romance, but there’s more to Louise than meets the eye.

Spring plays out like a strange hybrid of Before Sunrise, The Animal Kingdom, and Species: a symbiotic genre mashup whose elements of horror and romantic drama cohere far better than you might expect at first glance. The film has a wry sense of humor, with believable banter and charming characters casually shooting the shit and communicating with one another in a way that feels naturalistic and inviting. This is especially true with Evan and Louise, whose free-flowing conversations and emotional chemistry feel reminiscent of the effervescent meet-cute energy of Jesse and Celine from Richard Linklater’s aforementioned classic.

Moorhead’s cinematography matches and emphasizes the naturalism of the film’s tonal aesthetic, with a grainy, sun-bleached, and handheld quality that makes the audience feel almost as though they’re riding shotgun with Evan, or walking just a few feet apart from him and Louise as they slowly but surely pour their hearts out and into one another. Levity and romance sit comfortably between tension and horror, as Louise’s attempts to hide her sudden transformations from Evan result in some particularly jarring and macabre sequences. When Evan eventually does learn Louise’s secret, it’s as horrifying as it is a cause for relief, knowing that the two can finally see one another on equal footing.

Spring is a very, very different experience than watching a blind vigilante exhaustingly grunting and shouting “hiyaa” while whaling the shit out of evildoers with a pair of billy clubs. But it’s a wholly satisfying and surprising film that could easily charm both horror-averse audiences and travel lovers, if given the chance.

Spring is available to stream for free on Tubi and rent on Amazon and Apple.