Nothing grabs your attention like a young lady walking home after fighting with her mother and discovering a random cigarette vending machine in the middle of the road, which happens to disperse a Godard book (along with packs of cigs). Even though it has limited screentime, Notes Sur Le Cinema by French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard makes such a strong impression onto young Cleo (portrayed by Elsie Fisher), that she instantly becomes a cinema aficionado.
Not only that, but she’s encouraged to time travel back to 1960s Paris to meet him and to soak up all that surrounds the man, the myth and the legend in Sparks, which makes its Southeast premiere in the New Director Features category at the 57th Nashville Film Festival premiering this week.
Not every time-travel movie features a hot tub or a DeLorean — this one is a little different.
Writer-Director Fergus Campbell crafts a storyline “set in a city in northwestern Nevada,” according to its opening credits that focuses on a “destination” of sorts. The Crop is based at a soon-to-be demolished drive-in movie theater, where a group of teenagers hangs out in a short bus while vaping and drinking beer purchased from fake IDs.
But the Crop is full of rituals, as well, which includes time travel… although the exact process is still being perfected. While the crew argues the merits of allowing new girl, Cleo, into their inner circle, she disappears.
“You need to prepare. You need to be ready for the other side…”
I’ve had an uneven experience with modern-day time-travel films, but this one offers something unique. It’s a coming-of-age storyline meets wanderlust escapism. Small-town life ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, and these kids have big dreams, even when they don’t quite realize it. There are lots of great, small moments shared between the characters, which makes the progression of the overall movie feel like a slow burn, but it’s in those moments where the plot is actually developing.
And what about that time-traveling portal? The kids try to explain it. They try to use it while never truly understanding it, but it’s mostly a McGuffin — which is disappointing. Campbell leaves an air of mystery surrounding it, never really showing or explaining it, just using it as something to move the storyline along.
However, having grown up in a small town, I did enjoy the storyline and feel the angst of our main characters, who eventually accomplish their goals in a round-about way. Multi-hyphenate filmmaker Fergus Campbell makes good on his feature-film debut. A lot of attention is focused on the finer details, and I appreciated that fact, noticing very quickly, every little thing that is involved in creating this world of Sparks, Nevada. I especially enjoyed the food-fight car race in the desert which was played like a video game (as a post-traumatic ritual for the characters).
Campbell celebrates the entire cinematic experience through Cleo, and I’m absolutely here for it!
There are two ways to catch Sparks at the 2026 Nashville Film Festival: The film will premiere on Saturday, September 26th at 1:30 PM in Regal Green Hills and if you can’t make it to the movie theater in person, it will be available to stream online as well, available from September 28th at 8:00 AM to October 5th at 11:59 PM.
“You know, when you’re not the center of attention, your first move is to be destructive.”