Nowhere **** (1997, James Duval, Rachel True, Nathan Bexton, Christina Applegate, Debi Mazar) – Classic Movie Review 1,041

Gregg Araki’s ambitious and successful 1997 movie Nowhere is zany alternative entertainment for cool entertainment folk. James Duval makes an engaging, lost hero as Dark Smith.

Writer-director Gregg Araki’s ambitious and successful 1997 movie Nowhere is zany alternative entertainment for cool entertainment folk. It revolves around the omni-sexual lives of the young, beautiful and doomed drifting through the sun-baked inferno of Los Angeles.

The final film of Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy, after Totally F***ed Up (1994) and The Doom Generation (1995), Nowhere easily achieves its ambition to be a hyper-real, colour-saturated Beverly Hills 90210 episode on acid. The story follows an interwoven network of doomed youths as they experience teenage doubt and insecurity, the highs and lows of adolescent love, S&M, hallucinogenics, rape, murder and alien abductions.

James Duval, who also starred in Totally F***ed Up and The Doom Generation, makes an extremely engaging, utterly huggable lost hero as Dark Smith – and the alien’s pretty cute too.

Dark is in a bisexual couple open relationship with Mel. Rachel True plays Mel, who is dating a girl named Lucifer (Kathleen Robertson), whom Dark hates, while Dark’s attention is on Montgomery (Nathan Bexton), a mysterious boy he keeps running into.

The moral at the end seems to be that, when you finally do find true love, he’ll be abducted by aliens and explode in your face. This is seriously sexy, wild, hilarious stuff.

Araki has managed to assemble an astonishing cast this time: Christina Applegate, Debi Mazar, Chiara Mastroianni, Traci Lords, Shannen Doherty, Heather Graham, John Ritter, Beverly D’Angelo, Rachel True, Kathleen Robertson, Joshua Mayweather, Jordan Ladd, Sarah Lassez, Scott Caan, Guillermo Diaz, Ryan Phillippe, Alan Boyce and Jaason Simmons.

It was advertised as ‘Clueless with nipple rings’.

Gregg Araki is also known for Mysterious Skin (2004), Kaboom (2010) and White Bird in a Blizzard (2014).

The Nowhere theatrical release poster.

The cast are James Duval as Dark, Rachel True as Mel Nathan Bexton as Montgomery, Chiara Mastroianni as Kriss, Debi Mazar as Kozy, Kathleen Robertson as Lucifer, Joshua Gibran Mayweather as Zero, Jordan Ladd as Alyssa, Christina Applegate as Dingbat, Sarah Lassez as Egg, Guillermo Diaz as Cowboy, Jeremy Jordan as Bart, Alan Boyce as Handjob, Jaason Simmons as The Teen Idol, Ryan Phillippe as Shad, Heather Graham as Lilith, Scott Caan as “Ducky, Thyme Lewis as Elvis, Mena Suvari as Zoe, Beverly D’Angelo as Dark’s Mom, Denise Richards as Jana, Teresa Hill as Shannon, Traci Lords as Val-Chick 1, Shannen Doherty as Val-Chick 2, Rose McGowan as Val-Chick 3, John Ritter as Moses Helper, Charlotte Rae as Fortune Teller, Christopher Knight as Mr Sighvatssohn, Eve Plumb as Mrs Sighvatssohn, Lauren Tewes as newscaster Julie, David Leisure as Egg and Ducky’s Dad, Devon Odessa as What, Staci Keanan as Ever, Gibby Haynes as Jujyfruit, and Gregg Araki as Cockroach Alien (voice, uncredited).

In late 2023, Strand Releasing announced plans to release a 4K restoration of Nowhere, including scenes cut from the theatrical version for MPAA ratings reasons. The restoration premiered with The Doom Generation and Totally F***ed Up at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on September 16, 2023.

Nowhere is directed by Gregg Araki, runs 78 minutes, is distributed by Fine Line Features, is written by Gregg Araki, is shot by Arturo Smith, and is produced by Gregg Araki and Andrea Sperling.

Release date: May 9, 1997.

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