Sometimes "reality is more twisted than dreams" states the male protagonist of this motion picture in which strange and cataclysmic things start happening to two young lovers after they pick up a slightly deranged drifter. The film almost defies description, but is perhaps best thought of as something that Joseph Minion ('After Hours'; 'Motorama') might write after watching 'Southland Tales' with the trio encountering increasingly weird and unhinged individuals on an increasingly apocalyptic journey, at least half of whom seem to mistake the female protagonist as someone from their past. The price $6.66 keeps recurring too, and the way the drifter constantly seems on the cusp of seducing both the young lovers, there is room to wonder if he is meant to be some sort of demon or devil or something else. Writer-director Gregg Araki provides no clear-cut answers though, and unlike his latter equally weird and apocalyptic 'Nowhere', this earlier effort does not benefit so much from the ambiguity since it is less of a character study than 'Nowhere'. As pure entertainment though, 'The Doom Generation' works much better with so much unadulterated weirdness in the mix that there is never a boring moment be had. James Duval's final scene is unforgettable too, with strobe lighting effects enhancing the pure horror of it. The film offers a refreshingly different take on teen romance with characters who debate the fact that "I love you" can mean different things and whose running away together proves anything but romantic in a traditional sense.
Review of The Doom Generation
