AFF Preview: HottieBoomBaLottie

Hold on to your high waters, Napoleon Dynamite. There’s a new weirdo in town. We’re talking about Ethan, the protagonist in this quirky comedy about a high school kid who can’t seem to figure out how to talk to Madison, the girl of his dreams. Or any girl, really.

This charming feature was written and directed by Seth Packard, who also stars, and he does a bang-up job of maintaining a whimsical sense of humor reminiscent of such insane (and beloved) teen flicks as Better Off Dead . Ethan gets falsely accused of causing some trouble and ends up getting shipped off to stay with his even more maladjusted cousins in California. How will he be able to survive there, and what will happen when he returns home to woo Madison?

There’s a lot of fun stuff in this movie, and you’re guaranteed to laugh. The absurdist tone stays in check enough to keep you the humor from flying too far out there, and the angst that serves as the bittersweet core is certainly coming from a real place. Definitely one to check out.