Turbo Cola – Film Review

With all of his friends headed to a party on the last night of 1999, Austin takes an extra shift at the Quality Mart gas station and is forced to look down the barrel of what it means to graduate high school and face a future stuck in his middle of nowhere hometown. He’s got one night to make his dreams come true, legal or not, and he’s taking it.

Luke Covert‘s Turbo Cola is one of the worst-titled movies of the year so far, but just because a title is bad doesn’t ever mean the movie will be bad just because of that. No, Turbo Cola is a bad movie for many, many other reasons. It is also one of the most bizarre and tonally confused movies in 2022 which struck me as somewhat fascinating seeing as how this was supposed to be a coming-of-age comedy-drama but it feels like a jumbled-up mess of genres.

There’s coming-of-age, romance, drama, crime, and comedy all rolled into one. Perhaps with the right screenwriter and director pairing, this could have been an amazing rollercoaster ride of a film, but the three screenwriters in charge of this script sadly fumbled the ball. The film never seems to be sure which tone to have, as it constantly switches every twenty minutes or so. The setup is really solid but everything else after that is deeply boring, confused, and messy.

The character of Austin is actually quite interesting, and he is easily the best part of the movie. Nicholas Stoesser delivers an incredible performance as the character, which is absolutely crazy when you consider that this is only his second acting credit so far. It’s obvious to me that Stoesser is going to have a remarkably strong career down the road. Hollywood, please pay attention to this guy.

As for the other characters in this story, I couldn’t care less about them. They are thinly written and don’t get as much time in the spotlight as Austin does. Obviously, this is Austin’s story so he should definitely be the main focus, but that doesn’t mean that all of the supporting cast should be relatively pushed to the sidelines. This script needed some more time to give them important things to do.

But even though I didn’t like this film, I do have to say that it is a promising start to Covert’s directing career because I couldn’t help but see so much potential in this film. For an independent film, what they were able to accomplish here is astounding, and it’s clear to me that everyone involved with the making of this film has a huge passion for the industry. Let’s just hope that whatever they all decide to work on next is a little more polished, clear, and focused.

Turbo Cola is a tonally confused mess of a film that can’t be saved by its admittedly great performances and stunning production design.