Dark Smith is an alienated, 18-year-old man struggling with daily life, fluctuating romantic status with his bisexual, polyamorous girlfriend Mel and conflicting feelings for a shy gay classmate, Montgomery. The day starts off normally enough with Dark meeting up with his friends which include the intelligent Dingbat, Montgomery, Mel and her purple-haired, acid-tongued lesbian lover Lucifer for breakfast at their local coffeehouse hangout, The Hole. Various mentions of a party at Jujyfruit's along with plans for a drug-fueled game of kick-the-can are made and the story segues into portions of the goings-on of the lives of other characters. The story progresses towards the oft-mentioned party at Jujyfruit's house, a bacchanalian orgy of excess, drinking and drugs. Here the tone changes from the innocuous and normal beginning to seemingly hallucinatory visions and surrealistic visuals and events, before reaching a chaotic finale where some of the issues come to a head. Dark and Mel argue about her desire to have an open relationship and Dark's desire for commitment. Mel's younger brother Zero and his girlfriend Zoe are ambushed by the Atari Gang on their way to Jujyfruit's house and their car, belonging to Zero's mother, is stolen while they are left helpless on the side of the road. Egg and Bart, separately watching the same televangelist, Moses Helper, both decide the world is too messed up to live in and they commit suicide to reach heaven. Ducky receives word of his sister's death and attempts to drown himself in a swimming pool, but is saved by Dingbat diving in and pulling him out. Bart's drug dealer Handjob is beaten to death by Elvis for selling them cut drugs, and Dark, covered in blood as a bystander, returns home. Montgomery – who claims that he escaped from aliens that had abducted him during the game of kick the can – comes to Dark's home. He appears at the window and asks if he can come in. Dark and Montgomery discuss their mutual attraction for one another and Montgomery asks Dark if he can spend the night. Dark agrees but makes Montgomery promise he will never leave him. After a momentary loving embrace, Montgomery begins coughing uncontrollably. As Dark shakes him to try to get him to stop, Montgomery explodes in a shower of flesh and blood. A cockroach-like alien who had apparently been using him as a host, turns to Dark and says, "I'm outta here," before crawling out the window, leaving Dark covered in blood and staring at the audience.
Reception
The Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, calling it "high energy" and stating that "Araki is a marvel at controlling shifting tones, and Nowhere, a confident, intricate work, has a great pop art look, yet its emotions are real." In an article on the upcoming summer films of 1997, The New York Times described Nowhere as "California's version of Kids." Rotten Tomatoes currently gives the film a 27% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 4.32/10.
Home media
In the US, it was released on VHS. Elsewhere it is available on DVD, including the United Kingdom, where it was released on a Region 2 DVD with no special features.. It was later re-released in the United Kingdom in 2013 featuring a commentary track with Gregg Araki James Duval, Rachel True and Jordan Ladd. In France it was released in a Region 2 DVD, with either French audio or original audio with French subtitles. It has no special features except for a French trailer. In Australia it was released on a Region 4 DVD.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film, , was released on Mercury Records in 1997.
