How To Talk To Girls At Parties is a 2018 comedy about an alien touring the galaxy who breaks away from her group and meets two young inhabitants of the most dangerous place in the universe: the London suburb of Croydon.
Every once in a while a film comes along that works hard to defy explanation, to sort of trip up the establishment and leave audiences purposefully flummoxed. Director John Cameron Mitchell certainly has done his fair share of oddities since his debut and now his long awaited fourth feature is perhaps his most accomplished if not entirely successful, a weirdly uneven and chaotic string of madness that celebrates the wonder of punk and a little exploration of what it means to be human.
Set in 1977 London, the city’s youth is consumed by the punk scene, with friends Enn (Alex Sharp), Vic (A.J. Lewis) and John (Ethan Lewis) dressing the part and looking to cause a little mayhem, at least in name only. On this night, they begin their journey at a local dive run by Queen Boadicea (Nicole Kidman) but soon find themselves back on the street where a tune on the wind draws them in like sirens on the sea. Welcomed into a strange home, they are witness to some bizarre behavior, not realizing they are in the presence of interstellar aliens visiting Earth. Enn (short for Henry) soon meets Zan (Elle Fanning), who desires to learn more of her host planet in the remaining two days she has left, abandoning her species’ rules for engagement, running off with Enn to experience what it’s like to be in love … and being punk.
How To Talk To Girls At Parties is not without its clever moments. Based on the sci-fi short story by Neil Gaiman, the idea of punk as a hopelessly confined movement where anything outside it would be foreign is a smart way clash two cultures, even if one is from outer space. Zan finds herself trying to adapt to her temporary host species, subverting the usual distance protocols so she can discover all the idiosyncrasies of our anatomy and emotions, believing punk an established norm. As Enn takes her about the city at night, she and he run headlong into all kinds of youthful adventures, and as humans do, begin to connect, deeply, Zan’s often pointed approach amusing and enticing for the young man.
To be sure, How To Talk To Girls At Parties is a quirky sideshow with Mitchell pulling out a number of stops in developing and growing this peculiar relationship. This is not new ground of course, with dozens of movies taking to the premise, from Starman to My Stepmother is an Alien, and while punk is a new flavor, it isn’t entirely enough to make this anything more significant. Fanning and Sharp are a great on-screen couple, with Fanning especially doing some fun pokes at the human condition, but it’s actually Kidman, in a limited role, who steals the show. Mitchell previously directed her to an Oscar nomination in his last film seven years ago, Rabbit Hole, and she cranks up the energy with plenty of punk-y power.
Fans of the genre, the filmmaker, and Gaiman are sure to find loads of good things to celebrate, and there’s no denying it has some fun to be had, even as it tends to spin its wheels a bit by the end and too often can’t hit the right note with its humor. Not for everyone, How to Talk to Girls at Parties is a messy good time that at least is entirely fearless of what it wants to be.