In case a reminder was needed that animation can be just as much for adults as for children, look no further than raunchy, ridiculously fun musical comedy, Spermageddon. This 3D-animated outrageous Norwegian import charts the path of the innumerable sperm cells living inside the ballsack of teenage nerd-gamer, Jens (Christian Mikkelsen), on their way to achieve their ultimate destiny. This translates to implanting the egg of a female, the curvy and flirty Lisa (Nasrin Khusrawi). The sperm cells all prepare for their ultimate ejection, which can be hampered in many ways, including but not limited to: being thrown in the trash, cleaned in the laundry in a sock, being buried alive, and being squirted on places other than inside the female’s cavity. As the film begins, scholarly sperm cell Professor Saltsmak (Bjorn Sundquist) educates his class on their difficult journey ahead to reach nirvana. That, however, is “just the tip of the jizzberg.”
The majority of Spermageddon switches back and forth between Jens and whip-smart sperm cell, Simen (Aksel Hennie). Whereas the rest of the class prepares for their ejaculation, Simen would rather go home to play the new Cum of Duty. Simen longs to understand the other parts of the human body, even as Professor Saltsmak insists that the ballsack and the vagina are the only two body parts that matter. Simen’s expertise may come in handy later on; as he does everything he can to protect his crush, Cumilla (Mathilde Storm), she seems committed to achieving her ultimate purpose. We see plenty of life both inside and outside Jens’s ballsack, humorously playing up every imaginable sexual pun. Eventually, we see inside his brain too and Lisa’s, as they try to navigate their desire towards one another after a steamy makeout session, courtesy of classic Spin the Bottle.
Of course, no animated movie would be complete without a villain to hate. Jizzmo (Christian Rubeck), the evil CEO of Jizzcorp, may have come up with an infallible way to impregnate the woman of Jens’ desires. His Ejaculator 9000 has all manner of attachments, including a gatling gun-esque launcher, to ensure it can slice through condoms and infiltrate female contraceptives. Jizzmo ruthlessly murders any sperm cells that get in his way during his efforts. Can Simen and Cumilla stop Jizzmo before he reaches the egg? Over the course of their fast-paced trek, Simen and Cumilla will face all sorts of obstacles, including E. Coli, a shit avalanche, spermicidal gel, and a morning after pill.
Effortlessly silly in nearly every way, the animation style perfectly compliments the eye-popping scenarios. It is quite funny to see entire towns rendered in this ballsack, including a speakeasy where Mr. Deepthroat conspires with his three pals over how to make sure Lisa has triplets. On the outside, Jens and Lisa are weirdly cute together. Their attempts at talking sexy or trying to replicate things they saw on Pornhub charm in the most delightful of ways. If we weren’t in the middle of a super-sexual giant cum joke, they could easily be a couple with a fairy tale happy ending. Jens kind of looks like Linguini from Pixar’s Ratatouille, certainly carrying his same level of awkwardness, but removed from his friends, a cute confidence. The effects of the outside world reach a head when Jens and Lisa attempt to make love in the forest, and culminate in the most hilarious scene of the movie.
As a big fan of raunchy humor and strange scenarios in animation (see: My Love Affair with Marriage, Sausage Party, or any of the works from auteur Bill Plympton), I was fully on board with Spermageddon from the very beginning. The whimsy of the animation style and its extravagant musical numbers are just the cherry on top. One of team of three writers also directs, giving a cohesive feel to the whole affair. Whether one finds the movie funny or not will be a different story. Certainly, some of this would never work on any level in any American production, which makes the mere existence of it that much more impressive. Lest one assume the visuals will be as nasty as the dialogue or character names, the taste level surprises, fleeting between suggestive moments without ever becoming straight up pornographic. Inside Out and Sausage Party meet Pornhub in this strange, laugh-out-loud erotic animation.
Spermageddon screened at 2024’s Annecy International Film Festival.
