“Senior Year”, directed by Alex Hardcastle, appears to be a modern spin off of popular comedy movies including “Never Been Kissed” and “Clueless”. Senior Year is based on a girl Stephanie who goes back to high school after being in coma for twenty years and works hard to achieve her dream of becoming the Prom Queen. Netflix put Senior Year in feel good category, it is a light-hearted tale with elements of generation gap.
The film premiere on Netflix on 13th May this year and it won’t be releasing in theatres. Resembling Never Been Kissed(1999), Senior Year centers around a girl Stephanie who is a cheerleader and spent two decades in a coma. After her recovery, Stephanie wants to return back to high school to complete her senior year. The protagonist loved her high school years and despite being twenty years older than her classmates she couldn’t wait to be back. The film features Stephanie stumbling upon the massive societal changes in 2022 and adjusting to it.
The trailer of Senior Year depicts the year 2002 and the character of Stephanie is shown as a beautiful and famous cheerleader who is about to complete her senior year but a cheerleading stunt goes horribly wrong and changes everything. Fast forward to two decades later when Stephanie wakes up from her coma, her room is remains the same as she left with posters of Britney Spears and Pink. She feels left behind and struggles to catch up with a world that has moved ahead with the passage of time and expects her to let go her teens and 20s. However, she feels determined to complete school.
The high school and society has drastically changed, she is taken aback by her Gez Z batchmates whose equalitarian principles result in each declaring themselves as the cheer captian, observing that they are a democarcy. Stephanie’s attempts at enjoying movies of her teen years and using social media annoy her friends. Rebel Wilson plays Stephanie, the actress is best known for blockbuster comedy movies such as Pitch Perfect franchise, How To Be Single and Bridesmaids and young Stephanie is played by Angourie Rice. Angourie Rice starred in films including The Nice Guys, Ladies in Black and Spider Man: Far From Home. Sam Richardson, known for The Afterparty and Detroiters, will also be seen.
And Justin Hartley of This Is Us fame portrays the character of Blaine. The film’s director Alex Hardcastle worked on prominent projects such as directing episodes of Parks and Recreation, The Office, New Girl and Crazy Ex Girlfriend.