“What was your point?”

“Nothing. It’s just a funny story.”

Your typical creature feature suffers from the ‘fireworks factory’ effect: the cumulative expectations of violence, horror and – of course – the appearance of the creature in question building into frustration and, often, disappointment. Spring, on the other hand, had me wondering if I’d put in the wrong DVD half an hour in, with no appearance of its apparent ‘monster’ and – more to the point – I didn’t care.

Justin Benson and Aaron Morehead’s indie feature possesses the perfunctory rhythms of a remembered holiday – moments of serenity pasted together, mementos cobbled together in a scrapbook, their connective moments long forgotten. Moments of peace and connection and conversation fluidly fused together. When the true nature of the monster is revealed, this atmosphere is not punctured, but enriched.

A bunch of metaphors are tied up within Spring: the new world meeting the old, the sacrifices concomitant with commitment (and parenthood), even if it overemphasises these themes in its final act. Lou Taylor Pucci and Nadia Hilker deliver naturalistic, believable performances even as the screenplay stretches the audience’s credulity; they help ensure that this is the rare film where the fireworks factory is beside the point.