- Release year: 2024
- Director: Rasmus A. Sivertsen and Tommy Wirkola.
- Producers: Kjetil Omberg and Jørgen Storm Rosenberg.
- Screenplay by: Geir Vegar Hoel, Jesper Sundnes and Tommy Wirkola.
- Composer: Christian Wibe.
Synopsis: a spermatozoon will save his friends thanks to his knowledge of human’s anatomy, while the teenager who created him has his first sexual encounters.
Shotgun Commentary: a masterpiece of sex education that all teens will love and benefit from greatly.
Review
Spermageddon is the type of film you don’t think much of at first glance, only to realise that it is actually a fascinating movie with tons of potential. The childish mood of the trailer and the whimsical animation make you think it’s going to be another average sex movie for stoners and horny teenagers, but the film proves that one can be silly and serious at once, making it one of the best sex education resources out there.
A unique adventure
The feature is similar to the Bee Movie (2007), only with sperm. It follows two parallel stories, the sexual awakening of nerdy teenage boy Jens, and the adventures of Jen’s spermatozoon Simon, as he tries to reach “the Egg” with his friends. Both stories are somewhat similar in terms of their coming-of-age thematic. This parallelism makes their simultaneous development textually beautiful as well as the optimal way to tell the account. After all, both storylines are the two sides of the same coin, the inside and outside perspective of the same events.
Other than the superb storytelling, the genre, or rather, genres, of the movie are worth exploring. You might have guessed that this was a comedy, and you are totally right, but it isn’t only that. In addition to the hilarious, slightly dirty, and weirdly educational humour, there are… Songs! You heard right, this is also a musical.
This year has been a bit of a crazy one for musicals. Themes and genres that we never thought could be connected to the genre have been more or less successfully managed to bring music into them. The blockbuster Joker 2 (2024) is one of those examples. Controversial as the work might be, it is a great example of unexpected musical. As is Emilia Pérez (2024), a total hit in festivals and a personal favourite of mine. The story of a trans cartel lord doesn’t exactly scream musical, yet it flawlessly incorporates catchy themes that enrichen the tale. Still, after this rollercoaster of jail birds and kingpins singing their hearts out, it is still shocking to watch a sperm sing the glories of Spermageddon, aka the day they’ll finally get their chance to reach an ovary.
Never trust appearances
Ridiculous as it may seem, this isn’t another Sausage Party (2016). Thankfully, this film aims higher than just utilising animation to make the expression “foos porn” literal. While it does feature tons of American Pie (1999) type of puerile jokes, they are more than justified considering the balance they provide to actual educational content. The combination of humour and facts is absolutely gorgeous. It ensures the attention of pre-teens and teens, while providing them with the education they are not getting in schools nor at home.
If we take into consideration the depressingly low, or even false, sex education that is being offered to young adults and teens, it is clear that the arts must carry the burden of educating about these themes. It is not going to come from the Governments and their agendas, nor the families that have been brought up to believe that sex is a shameful theme. Therefore, much like porn, cinema is one of the few safe spaces in which young people can educate themselves, might as well provide them with good educational resources.
In short, you’re welcome
In fact, these issues are addressed within the film. Jens and his lover Lisa, before engaging in intercourse, start “dirty talking” to each other. This might be the cringiest moment of the whole footage. Not because it is uncomfortable, which it is, but because their dialogue makes no sense, no one in real life speaks like that regardless of the situation they are in. And then it hits: they are repeating what they heard when they watched porn.
This is the most innocuous way to present the issue, and the best one if one wants to keep the movie as a comedy. The darker truth is that having porn as the sole source of sex education not only leads to teens talking like they are in a B-movie, but also in an alarming rise of sexual violence and other toxic behaviours between couples. Teenagers learn how to have sex from porn videos, leading to abuse and dystopic consequences such as young women not knowing that sex is not supposed to hurt, or young men not knowing that women are not supposed to yell like a pig in the slaughterhouse during intercourse.
All in all, films like Spermageddon are not only entertaining but also necessary in a world that seems to want children to remain ignorant to the realities of sex and to force women to have babies regardless of their real ambitions. Despite all the great tracks, the last song, which addresses abortion, teenage parenthood and other related subjects, is by far the best. A great end to a wonderful film that should be screened in all the high schools around the world.
Advice to take from this movie:
- Please, please, PLEASE, don’t take sex advice from porn.
- Sex education is crucial in EVERYONE’s life.
- You don’t need to give birth just because you are pregnant. There are lots of reasons why you might get pregnant, and it’s OK to not be ready. As is to not be ready for sex, regardless of what your friends tell you.
What’s your take? Have you watched Spermageddon? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀