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Three out of Five stars
Running time: 106 mins

Watchable Mexican drama with strong performances from the two leads but the fantasy elements eventually wear thin and the film abandons its initially intriguing ideas in favour of a predictable and cliched climax.

What's it all about?
Written and directed by Gerardo Naranjo, I'm Gonna Explode (Voy a Explotar, original title fans) stars Juan Pablo de Santiago as Roman, the rebellious teenage son of a right-wing congressman (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) who meets misfit nurse's daughter Maru (Maria Deschamps) after he stages his mock suicide at school and winds up in detention. Instantly bonding, the pair stage a mock kidnapping and run away together but only get as far as Roman's father's roof, where they set up a tent and live in a self-created paradise while deciding whether or not they fancy each other enough to have sex.

The Good
There are strong hints of a French New Wave influence in I'm Gonna Explode, particularly to Godard's Pierrot Le Fou, which also featured posturing, fatalistic teen runaways. Juan Pablo de Santiago and Maria Deschamps are both excellent and the film's treatment of their relationship is both offbeat and intriguing.

Ironically for a film about runaways, the film is most interesting when the characters are hiding out on the roof and Naranjo does a good job of creating an interesting environment, from the warm red glow of their womb-like tent interior, to the gorgeous rooftop views of the city and the way in which the characters are able to spy on the human drama playing out beneath them.

The Bad
However, as soon as Roman and Maru leave the rooftop, the film abandons its original elements and quickly becomes a standard runaway drama, hurtling towards the inevitable downbeat climax; the tripwire-based staging of the finale is admittedly different but the result is unfortunately still the same.

In addition, the fantasy elements of the film (Ramon begins the film by dreaming of shooting up the school) eventually wear thin and don't really add anything.

Worth seeing?
I’m Gonna Explode is a watchable, well acted teen drama with some original, offbeat ideas but it doesn't quite manage to see them through to the end.