HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES. Gaiman’s Aliens in London

Fascinated by punk, growing-up Enn (Alex Sharp), wandering around clubs and streets with his friends in search of girls and parties, ends up in a building inhabited by a strange commune. They wear colorful clothes that assign them to one of six castes, practicing acrobatics, singing, and rhetoric. Though it looks chaotic, it seems as though everyone is part of one collective consciousness. The exception is Zan (Elle Fanning), who shows individual traits and clearly wants to escape the sect-like community. How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

Enn offers the girl an escape from the building and a walk around the city. The young punk becomes Zan’s guide to the outskirts of London – a world completely foreign to her. He is fascinated by the girl who wants to spend time with him and learn from him, while she seems to find everything new, incomprehensible, even exotic. The more they get to know each other, the more their horizons expand, though not always in a pleasant way.

In a way, this is also the film itself. Neil Gaiman’s prose, though filled with dark humor and wit, doesn’t always translate well to the screen. What worked in Stardust and American Gods – the vision of the depicted world, character stories, the atmosphere of a dark fairy tale or myth – in the case of How to Talk to Girls at Parties, it turned out to be average. The gritty punk clubs on the outskirts of London in 1977 and the appropriately dressed youth make up one reality. The other is the interior of the building inhabited by colorful aliens doing strange things. Both of these worlds are internally consistent, and you can see there’s a wealth of ideas in them. Unfortunately, these ideas remain underdeveloped, because the more we get to know the characters on both sides, the less they have to offer. The relationship between Enn and Zan is just a typical story of first infatuation and mutual acceptance. The only thing that makes it stand out is the clever costume.

Additionally, the film is watched in the same way the cosmic sect studies Earthlings – with a cold eye, without emotion or engagement. Not only does it become increasingly mundane and predictable, but there is also a growing sense of dissatisfaction, because several side plots (e.g., the sexuality of the aliens) could have been expanded. While the first half hour is intense, surprising, and looks very promising, the last thirty minutes disappoint with a lack of a conclusion as impressive as the beginning. It turns out that the colorful visitors might as well be foreigners on a trip, and the punk protagonist could be a McDonald’s employee. Both the exoticism of the aliens and the teenage rebellion have little bearing on the development of the plot and characters.

And speaking of the characters – there are some really good acting performances in the film, especially in supporting roles. Among the members of the alien sect (aside from Elle Fanning), you can spot Ruth Wilson and Matt Lucas, although they are all overshadowed by Nicole Kidman as the punk leader / club boss Boadicea. The actress, in 2017, appeared – besides How to Talk to Girls at Parties – in The Killing of a Sacred Deer by Yorgos Lanthimos, The Beguiled by Sofia Coppola, and in the TV series Big Little Lies by David E. Kelley. She also turned fifty, and in all of these productions, not only did she perform excellently, but she also looked stunning, albeit in very different ways each time. As Boadicea, she is charismatic and, as a punk queen should be, loud, vulgar, and commanding. It would have definitely been better if she were the main character because she has more spunk than the rest of the crew combined. And she is the only one in the entire film who becomes more interesting as it goes on.