Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Jamie Adams
Starring: Alia Shawkat, Nick Helm, Eiza Gonzales, Chanel
Cresswell, Tara Lee, Dolly Wells
In Alex Ross-Perry's
Her Smell, Elisabeth Moss played Becky Something, a monstrous embodiment of a
narcissistic Gen-X rocker, all drug-fuelled venom and bile, attacking
anyone who questioned her methods. With Love Spreads, which takes its title from a Stone Roses track, British writer/director
Jamie Adams gives us something of a millennial cousin of Moss's
diva.
Played by Alia Shawkat, Kelly is the frontwoman of female rock
group Glass Heart. She's just as narcissistic as Moss's Becky, but this is
2021, so there are no tantrums thrown, no hotel rooms trashed and no drugs
binged. Instead the sober and manipulative Kelly goes behind people's
backs when she wishes to stab them.
Following a successful debut album, Glass Heart are riding high. Their
put-upon manager Mark (Nick Helm) has booked them into a studio in
the Welsh countryside for five weeks. It's purportedly the studio where
Queen recorded Bohemian Rhapsody and Oasis recorded Wonderwall, so he's
hoping the girls will find some inspiration for that tricky second album.
Struck by writer's block, Kelly spends most of the allotted time in bed.
As the unproductive days turn into weeks, Mark finds himself under
increasing pressure from the band's label to get something recorded, while
Kelly's relationship with her bandmates – the chilled out Jess (Chanel Cresswell) and Irish glamourpuss Alice (Tara Lee) – becomes increasingly
fraught.
Just as it takes a prolonged period for Glass Heart to figure out the
direction of their sophomore album, so too does it take a while for
Love Spreads to find its feet. It spends much of its first
half wrestling with its tone, falling somewhere between the realistic
drama of Her Smell and the parody of
This is Spinal Tap. The latter is acknowledged by a cutaway shot to a newspaper headline
that reads "Sexy, not sexist," so Adams clearly knows what he's doing here
and is aware of the lineage his muso movie fits into. Office-era cringe comedy is a major influence too, particularly in the figure
of Mark, with Helm delivering a performance that comes off as a more
affable version of the type of character Ricky Gervais might portray.
That word "affable" ultimately sums up Adams' film. Once you get to grips
with its odd tone and its relaxed vibe it surprisingly becomes a bit of a
charmer, a nicecore cousin of Her Smell. Aside from Kelly, the characters are easy to warm to, particularly
Mark, a refreshing alternative to the stereotype of the egomaniacal band
manager. When his wife (Dolly Wells) pops by for a surprise visit
we're given one of the most endearing portrayals of a long-term
relationship I've seen on screen for quite some time.
In a career best turn, Eiza Gonzáles enters the picture halfway
through to replace a departed band member. A ray of California sunshine
cutting through the Welsh mist, her guitarist Patricia instantly brightens
everyone up with her positivity. It's the sort of character you might
expect to be deployed as an easy target for satire, particularly in a
British movie, but like the sleeper TV hit Ted Lasso, Love Spreads takes a figure ripe for sarcastic mockery
and instead makes them someone whose attitude and outlook we become
envious of. Any cynicism we might have had early on in this music
melodrama has been entirely eroded by the time we leave the studio and bid
farewell to its muso protagonists.
Love Spreads premiered at the 2021
Tribeca Film Festival and will be released in US cinemas and on VOD June
18th. A UK/ROI release has yet to be announced.
