Directed by John Cregan
Review by David Carter


Released by Severin Films
Running Time: 85 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo English
Region Code: 1, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.78:1
16:9 Enhanced: Yes
Special Features: Two commentary tracks, behind the scenes, deleted scenes, audition footage, two short films, music videos
Trailer Online: Yes

Short Version: Charming teen comedy

I have been wrestling with what to say about DEVOLVED for a while now. I always prefer to let films stand on their own merits when reviewing them, preferring not to take the easy way out and simply compare them to other works. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to come up with a way to accurately impart to you what DEVOLVED is about with resorting to hackneyed film critic lingo, so here it goes: it’s LORD OF THE FLIES meets AMERICAN PIE. Without a doubt, you’ll see the same phrase, word-for-word, in other reviews of the film (I did when I looked), but trust me when I say none of us are plagiarists, it’s simply impossible to discuss the film without making that comparison.

DEVOLVED is the story of a group of high school seniors vacationing in Mexico when their tour boat sinks and they find themselves stuck on a deserted island. The first group of kids to make it to shore are the outcasts – nerds, dweebs, and geeks – along with troubled cheerleader and “popular kid” Peggy. One of the geeks, Flynn, is in love with Peggy and the two begin bonding before their tranquility and burgeoning romance is disturbed by the arrival of her boyfriend Roger, aka “The Rog,” and his sycophantic gang of popular kids. The Rog sets himself up as leader of the island and quickly re-establishes the high school hierarchy that the geeks had hoped to have escaped.

Since the popular kids lack intelligence and basic survival skills, the balance of power soon shifts back to the geeks, albeit aided by a sneaky plan devised by Flynn. Flynn makes preparations to escape and turns the island into a utopia by mending the gaps between the geeks and the popular kids (minus an exiled Rog) but eventually succumbs to the seduction of power, becoming a new version of “The Rog” himself. His hubris allows a now-crazed Rog to retake the reins of power, but his deranged plans for the castaways may doom the group to a life as island-dwellers.

Those of you who remember high school English class will easily recognize the numerous similarities between DEVOLVED and LORD OF THE FLIES, so there really isn’t much need to go into them here. That’s not a criticism; DEVOLVED works well when viewed as a comic update of the classic story. It’s as much informed by teen comedies of the past twenty years as anything, so expect to see the various teen archetypes (geeks, jocks, stoners, etc) that you’ve seen before, albeit done slightly more intelligently. Writer/director John Cregan is conscious of the tropes of the genre and attempts to steer clear of as many as possible while still making a film that will be familiar to fans of the teen comedy. The result is a film that feels both new and old, the kind of film that is as much 1982 as it is 2012.

Severin Films is best known for their exploitation and erotica releases, so I was a bit surprised to see this release from them. Though it is a bit out of their niche, DEVOLVED is a solid release with a good print and a robust group of extra features. The standard definition version was used for this review, but a Blu Ray version of the film is available. DEVOLVED isn’t a very memorable film but I do consider it to be quite charming at times. It’s an entertaining watch that will appeal mostly to fans of teen comedies and film studies grad students who are endlessly cataloging every literary adaptation ever made.