Montgomery is lonely and his only friend is Alyssa, a teenager obsessed about the coming of the end of the world. Alyssa's girlfriends, Dingbat and Egg, are two normal and somewhat shy girls, but her boyfriend is a deranged criminal. Montgomery might be Dark's only chance at ever finding happiness and Dark is aware of that. However, the conditions present when the two are together prevent them from expressing their feeling towards each-other.

Across the movie, the audience observes that Dark is simply the most down-to-earth person in the whole film. Being passionate about filming, Dark occasionally films his friends and edits the movies that he makes. His passion has no limits as he takes his camera along with him everywhere that he goes. His explication for the act is that he had a premonition telling him that he is going to die soon, and, thus, he wants to tape his death.

Araki just wants to present the teenager world from his point-of-view, but in an attempt to show people that the story is only fictional, he uses several cliches to prove that the depictions are only imagined. Jaason Simmons is used by Araki to play the role of a Baywatch TV star that has had enough of fans that make him feel as if he were a freak. He appears to be very peaceful in "Nowhere" as he becomes friends with Egg and they both go to his house. Later, however, in a typical Araki manner, things go berserk with Simmons beating and then raping Egg's innocent character. Nothing is what it seems to be in Araki's surreal world.

An extraterrestrial being also takes part in the movie (giving more proof that Araki has created a fantasy world) and it occasionally abducts people. The weird thing about the alien is that Dark is the only one that can see it, and, that it does not show any sign of aggression towards him. The fact that the rest of the people cannot see the alien gives further proof that Dark is more realistic than the other characters in the movie. It is also possible that Araki wished to use the alien as an image of the devil which corrupts and transforms people.

During the film all of the characters plan on going to a party at Juicyfruit's where all the important persons are going. The most innocent couple from the movie is made out of Mel's younger brother and his girlfriend, Zoe. Even with their innocence, they also want to go at Juicyfruit's party and become a part of the rest of the group. From the beginning, the two stumble on several problems which prevent them from reaching the party, but eventually they manage to get there with the help of a drug-dealer. Handjob, the drug-dealer, is yet another cliche used by Araki in order to show how innocence can be altered by apparently well-intended people.

Though he is not present in the movie, Araki sends his messages through several signs during the acting. During the beginning of the movie Montgomery sits near a bench that reads "GOD SAVE...

Later in the movie, Dark brings a towel that reads "HOPE" to his friend, Ducky (Egg's brother), that had just attempted to drown. The reason for Ducky's drowning attempt is that Egg had just committed suicide after following a TV commercial with reference to Jesus. Another interesting scene is when Alyssa's boyfriend, Elvis, savagely beats Handjob with a tomato can because of some bad drugs that the drug-dealer had previously sold to him.
The movie's soundtrack is not just an ordinary soundtrack, as it is chosen almost perfectly in order to create the perfect scenes in the movie. Along with the colors used by Araki, the music makes the viewer involved in the film, identifying himself or herself with Dark's character as the teenager that we've all been at some point of our lives.

All of the teenagers present in the movie seem to have lost their hopes of ever living a normal happy life. Everyone looks as if they are stressed or as if they have a certain problem that they want to solve. The sad thing about it is that most of them are sure that their problems will never be solved and that all that fate has in store for them is death. The general idea of the movie revolves around teenagers that have an apocalyptic view of life.

The film is also intriguing due to the fact that a lot of stars had been chosen to perform in it, even with the fact that most of them only appeared for small periods of time.

As described by Gregg Araki himself, "Nowhere" is similar to a "Beverly Hills 90210 on Acid." In his movies and in "Nowhere" especially, Araki uses excessive pop culture and the aggressive punk present in the early 90s. The tonality and the altered English that his characters use, lead people in observing that Araki meant to express the exact feelings of a generation of hopeless teenagers.

Largely, "Nowhere" is a somewhat work of art that you can either love or hate, but which you will certainly remember. Araki's directing style is also one to remember with all the carefully chosen objects that he uses in order to give a better touch to the final movie.

The last scene in the movie presents Dark and Montgomery together again and naked, only this time this occurs in real life. Dark feels as if his dream has came true and that happiness really exists as Montgomery promises him that he will never leave him. However, tragically, the director strikes again with Montgomery exploding and turning into a cockroach of gigantic proportions.

Works Cited

Bartone, C. Richard. Araki, Gregg (b. 1959). glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,

Transgender, and Queer Culture. 2002. www.glbtq.com/arts/araki_g.html.11 Feb. 2009.

John, Esther. "Gregg Araki: tackling the tough ones on film.

The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. 1 September, 2005.

Rich, B. Ruby. "Homo pomo: the new queer cinema." Queer alternatives.

Smith, Damon. "Rebel, Rebel." Bright Lights Film Journal. 59 (2008)."

Young, Damon & Caluya Gilbert. "A Vessel of Imagery":

An Interview with Gregg Araki

Nowhere. Dir. Gregg Araki. Fine Line Features, 1997.

Senses of cinema. 2005. 11 Feb. 2009. http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/06/38/gregg_araki.html