The indie romance “Bellflower” is the story of love at first bite — of live crickets.
Los Angeles 20-somethings Woodrow (Evan Glodell) and Milly (Jessie Wiseman) meet when they take part in a bug-eating contest at a dive bar. The next night they go out on a date that stretches into a long drive to Texas, during which Woodrow trades his car for a beat-up motorcycle. Despite Milly’s warning that “I’ll hurt you,” Woodrow falls for the bottle-blonde. Bizarre? Read on.
Woodrow and his best bud and roommate, Aiden (Tyler Dawson), spend their days building a flamethrower and a fire-spitting car called Medusa. “Mad Max” fans, they’re preparing for the apocalypse, which may or may not be coming. Also in the mix are two more oddball slackers — Milly’s best friend, Courtney (Rebekah Brandes), and Courtney’s roomie, Mike (Vincent Grashaw) — whose main purpose in life seem to be getting “totally wasted” on booze and weed.
Brace yourself for an explosively brutal finale.
“Bellflower” — named for the street on which much of the action takes place — is an impressive debut for Glodell, who not only stars but also wrote and directed. He even invented the camera that cinematographer Joel Hodge uses in strikingly audacious ways. Glodell is a filmmaker with a future, if the apocalypse doesn’t get in the way.