SFIAAFF: Colma: The Musical

Colma is the BART stop between Daly City and South San Francisco. Not exactly a bustling place, until now. Colma: The Musical takes the sleepiness and between-ness of the town and explores how recent high school grads from there ever move on. When we read the description of the film, we somehow walked away thinking that Colma was a zombie musical—it’s not. But the way that the inhabitants of the town to seem to be in perpetual limbo and the great scene in the cemetery make it seem zombie-esque. We’re pretty sure that the eventual zombie take over of the Bay will probably begin there.

Colma is a musical—complete with overtures, choreographed dance scenes (though not nearly enough), power ballads, riffs on local hot spots like Serramonte, and hand claps. In short, there is a lot to love about this film. The work of Richard Wong and H.P. Mendoza, Colma is ambitious in a lot of ways. Besides an original score and script, the movie tackles everything from coming to age, to being gay, to working at the mall. Despite being a little darker than the poppy music would indicate, Colma is one of the most entertaining films we’ve seen in a long time. For locals, it’s a must see—drag your out of town visitors and make sure to explain the inside jokes to them. Whatever you do, get your hands on the soundtrack.