Sparks: a small-town coming-of-age that uses time travel to celebrate cinema

What Sparks is about

Sparks follows Cleo, played by Elsie Fisher, who becomes a cinephile after stumbling on Notes Sur Le Cinema by Jean‑Luc Godard inside a cigarette vending machine. That discovery pushes her toward a group of teenagers who hang out at a drive‑in called the Crop in a small city in northwestern Nevada.

The Crop operates as a ritualized hangout: a short bus, vaping, fake‑ID beer runs and post‑traumatic rites like a desert car race staged like a video game. The teens also practice a form of time travel. Cleo's curiosity and the crew's ambivalence about letting a newcomer in set up the central arc: she disappears and others warn that preparation is needed for the "other side."

Style and approach

Fergus Campbell makes his feature debut by building a textured, lived‑in world. The film favors small, specific moments between characters over flashy exposition. That approach helps the coming‑of‑age beats land: boredom, ambition and the ache of wanting out of small‑town life feel grounded.

Performances and set pieces

Elsie Fisher anchors the film as Cleo, her sudden movie obsession giving the story its emotional throughline. The ensemble around her supplies the rituals and friendships that shape Cleo's choices.

A standout sequence described by reviewers is a food‑fight car race in the desert, staged like a video game. It's one of the film's clearer moments of cinematic playfulness and an example of the care Campbell took with detail.

Festival run and distribution

IndieWire reported that Strand Releasing has bought distribution rights, which points toward a wider release next spring.

Strengths and limits

Limits: The time‑travel element remains enigmatic by design and functions mostly as a narrative accelerator rather than a concept the film interrogates. Viewers looking for a rigorous time‑travel plot may find that unsatisfying.

Who this film is for

Watch Sparks if you want a coming‑of‑age film that celebrates moviegoing, cares about small moments between characters, and prefers mood and ritual over technical sci‑fi explanations. Expect an indie, character‑driven film with festival‑first exposure and an upcoming theatrical rollout.