Genre: Teen/Drama
Director: Terri Minsky
Writer: Jacob Jones
Producer: Jason Reitman
Cast: Brighton Sharbino, Emily Carey, Megan Charpentier, Erika Bierman, Judah Lewis, Finn Wolfhard, Nolan Gross, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, Shawn Michaels, Mark Pinter
Plot: As another day begins in Strawberry High, a blonde-haired girl begins walking to her locker. Immediately all the students begin to gravitate towards her. One comes up to her asking who she is. She smiles, brushing back her hair and introducing herself as Tiffany (Brighton Sharbino).
In her inner monologue, she talks about how ever since she came to Strawberry High, people think she's been destined to do great things. To her, life is as simple as this. Maintain a good social life, achieve good grades, and graduate with a degree.
As she makes her way to class, she sees a flier for student council elections. Among the candidates are Kelsey McCorbin (Emily Carey) and Suzanne Davids (Megan Charpentier), she keeps a neutral expression, quietly deciding to keep an eye on it for the sheer joy of watching two so-called intellectuals go at it. Before she heads off, she finds another girl storming off and a guy chasing after him.
Recognizing him, she stops him and asks what happened this time. Keeping his cool, he claims that she just couldn't handle the starpower Louie DeMont (Finn Wolfhard) has. Not that it matters, his eyes on a bigger prize. Tiffany.
Tiffany tells him that his fantasies happen only in his dreams and walks away. Desperate to keep her attention, Louie stays by her side exclaiming that she is the most beautiful girl in the entire school. If she got together with him, they'd be the ultimate power couple. Tiffany refuses his offer and walks to her class.
Later that day, Tiffany partakes in her history class, dozing off as her teacher gives a lecture on Mayan civilization. Finally, the class bell rings and the students are given their homework assignment due by Wednesday.
After exiting class, she gets her laptop and walks to the school library, hoping to get as much study time as possible. Upon sitting down, Tiffany manages to get some facts about Mayan culture before finding two girls standing by, both asking if they can sit with her. Seeing nothing better to do, she lets them.
Curious, Tiffany asks what their names are. The girl with the glasses calls herself Danielle (Erika Bierman) while the girl with the ponytail introduces herself as Suzanne. Upon recognizing her name, Tiffany tells her she's heard of her campaign. This inspires an excitable speech where she explains that she's running to promote a new kind of student government, also saying thay Danielle has been helping her campaign.
The focus then shifts to her opponent Kelsey McCorbin. Suzanne is not expecting to defeat her, given her family name and clout, but anything to get her off the idea that she's teflon. Danielle then brings up the dinner party her family is having, saying she's going to attend. Suzanne can't as she has homework, which sucks cause she wants to know her better. Playfully, she asks Danielle if Rick Starson (Judah Lewis) will be there causing her to blush wildly.
Tiffany catches her on the crush and wishes her luck with the 'first date' and watches the two jokingly banter. She looks up at the clock and realizes that she has to get to her next class in twenty minutes and she's only gotten one page done. Seeing this, Suzanne and Danielle offer to help her finish her page.
The three manage to complete the essay with five minutes to spare. She looks at the two and asks if they can hang out tomorrow. They agree to meet at the same location. Later that day, Tiffany makes a post endorsing Suzanne as student council president, unknowingly being followed by Kelsey's little brother, Leo McCorbin (Nolan Gross).
A few days later, Tiffany and Danielle stare at the mansion of the McCorbin family. Tiffany looks at Danielle, asking if she wants to go through with this. She nods, saying she knows the family well. Tiffany smirks, quipping about how she'll finally get to see this elusive Kelsey.
Upon entering, the girls find themselves inside a exquisite room before being greeted by Connor McCorbin (Mark Pinter). Tiffany introduces herself to him and the two are guided to the living room.The two see other guests, 'friends of the family' as Connor puts it chatting with one another. Danielle smiles when she accidentally bumps into someone. To her shock, it turns out to be Rick. In an instant, she becomes a mess, trying.miserably to talk to him. He chuckles, finding her humorous. Tiffany sits on the couch, wondering why she decided to come when she sees Leo walking around, making sure everything is okay.
Later that evening, everyone sits around a large dining table when Connor stands up to introduce his daughter Kelsey. She gives a speech thanking everyone for coming to her daddy's dinner party and talks about how much of an honor it is to represent the greatest family she knows with dignity and class before proposing a toast to not just a new generation of McCorbin, but a toast to her dearest father.
As everyone dines, Tiffany glances at Kelsey, finding her talking with a local businessman. She turns to her father, excusing herself to go to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Danielle is still hungover on Rick, trying to form sentences but fumbling over herself. Their conversation is soon interrupted by the arrival of Kelsey who politely asks if she can speak with her. As Rick steps aside, she tells her how happy she is Danime could attend and shakes her hand for an unusually long time.
Inside the bathroom, Tiffany stares at the mirror contemplating life when Leo opens the door, declaring that his sister may need an explanation as to why she didn't support her campaign. Her endorsement for Suzanne was all over school. Tiffany comes to her defense, saying she seems like a good person. Leo laughs it off, warning her that being student council president takes more than kindness. You have to be a negotiator, play hardball with other and-
Kelsey interrupts him, asking if this is why his campaign failed to get off the ground. She then thanks Tiffany for coming to the dinner party and in a passive-aggressive manner remarks on how her endorsement brought intrigue into the race. Not seeing how important her part in it was, she tells Kelsey to focus on her own stuff. Once all the guests leave, Inside her room, Kelsey writes in her journal about the party being a complete success.
The next morning, Suzanne accidentally bumps into Kelsey. She frantically tries to start up a conversation about the party apologizing for not attending. Kelsey calls it all in the past, referring to a more recent manner. After confirming Tiffany's endorsement, she explains to her that elections are not won by big names, but by policy and understanding the needs of the populace. Suzanne agrees but worries that she's treating this as something more. "But why not?" says Kelsey. She is the future of the McCorbin family. And with that name recognition, victory is certain. Suzanne finds it hypocritical, but wishes her good luck anyway extending her hand only for Kelsey to walk away.
At another part of scholl, Rick comes up to the duo asking if he could speak with Danielle. Suzanne obliges, leaving them alone. Rick tells Danielle that he really enjoyed spending time with her at Kelsey's party and was wondering if she'd like to hang out with him sometime this week. This sends Danielle into a state of shock so great, she can't even speak. Suddenly, the bell rings and Rick tells her that he'll check up on her later.
Later that afternoon, Tiffany sees Danielle following her doen the hallway. She asks if she knows how to speak to people, explaining that Rick came up to her asking if she could hang out this week and she froze up, revealing that this always happens whenever she's talking to someone or is put on the spotlight.
Danielle asks Tiffany to teach her how to be natural around crushes. Tiffany accepts, telling her to meet her tomorrow afternoon. She does so, lightly knocking on the door only to find no one there. She hears a voice calling for her and wanders to the backyard where she finds Tiffany with a chalkboard preparing to teach her Relationship 101.
The first lesson is how to hold conversations. In order to best help Tiffany, she has invited Louie to serve as a test dummy. Despite initially being taken off-guard by his advances, Danielle manages to hold a conversation after being told to not let what they say get to you. Hold your ground without getting emotional.
Danielle and Louie speak one more time, ending when Danielle roasts his lack of penis size, causing him to leave in embarrassment and sending Tiffany into hysterics. Days pass and Danielle continues to grow more confident in her conversational abilities. At the end of the final day, Tiffany and Danielle lay on the ground looking at the stars when Danielle asks her if she ever had a relationship.
Tiffany says she did have one with a guy named Johnny. They dated for a few months but broke it off cause she realized a relationship wasn't what she wanted. This is where she reveals the most important lesson. If you don't think you want to be in a relationship, don't be. Not everyone is going to want to date. If you want to focus on yourself, that's good. But if you really like someone and feel you're in a place to make something happen, that's fine too.
The next morning, Danielle finds Rick by the lockers and asks if he's still up for hanging out this week. He nods and the two have a nice discussion where she learns that Rick is a legend in the soapbox derby races, occuring every Friday night after school. He invites her to attend and she accepts. Upon seeing Tiffany, Danielle excitedly thanks her for helping.
Meanwhile, inside another part of the building, Kelsey is busy studying geometry when Leo does a double-count of the most recent polls and to their shock finds that Suzanne is starting to take the lead. Fearing the worst, Kelsey begins to think of ways to curb this newfound momentum.
As she saunters through the hallways, she comes across Danielle. She attempts to keep her calm composure as Danielle asks if she’d like to join her and Tiffany this Friday to see the race. Kelsey gently declines, saying that she has to focus on her campaign. Once Danielle leaves, she mumbles under her breath that she hopes hurting her friend won’t hurt their friendship when one of the students asks her if they can tell Louie to stop being a pervert and storms off. This gives her a wicked idea.
Later that same day, Louie leans by his locker texting on his phone when he is cornered by Kelsey. She tells Louie that she’s in a bind and needs some assistance. She asks him if she knows someone named Suzanne. Louie says he's the girl that hates him the most. Hearing this, Kelsey offers him the opportunity to get even. If he can create a scandal that will rock her campaign, she will go on a date with him. Overjoyed, Louie accepts.
The next morning, Suzanne heads off to her class when she sees Louie standing by the door. He exclaims that in order to get inside, she must listen to his every word. What follows is a rambly, overly long backhanded compliment painted as an apology. Louie continues to annoy her with his behavior before getting her to snap by kissing her hand. She pushes Louie aside, telling him to stay away from him.
Conveniently, Leo records the footage on his phone, leaving out all his prior talk. He then twists the story, saying all Louie wanted to do was help her improve her campaign and she blew him off, saying her temperament is not that of a true leader. The scandal goes viral with most people condemning Suzanne's actions.
Friday night arrives and Tiffany and Danielle are among some of the excited fans ready to see the race. Out comes Rick pushing his trusted car "Ol' Rebel" to the starting line. The race proves to be tight but Rick ultimately wins. He dedicates the win to someone who he's started to grow an attachment towards. Danielle Bordeaux! As all this is going on, Tiffany receives several texts from Suzanne learning about the scandal.
A week later, Suzanne films a video explaining her side and polarizes the student body between Suzanne and Kelsey on the scandal. On Monday, Suzanne enters student council only to be greeted harshly by Kelsey supporters. Throughout the meeting, Suzanne tries to get a word in but is constantly shut down. Finally, Suzanne loses her patience and asks if it's because she posted her video on the internet. An argument between her and Kelsey ends with her storming off. Conflicted on what to do, Danielle decides to stay inside and finish the meeting.
Later that afternoon, Danielle is in her room when her phone rings. She picks it up and hears Suzanne apologizing profusely for snapping at everyone the way she did. Danielle forgives her, saying it was a heated situation. She tells her that she didn't want to get involved cause she's friends with both. Now in a private area, she admits to Suzanne that she shouldn't have posted those videos and settled things calmly. After admitting fault, Suzanne asks her if they want to hang out tomorrow. Danielle can't as she's going to meet up with Tiffany and Rick. Once Suzanne gets off the phone and scratching the words 'Hang out with Danielle' off her calendar, She realizes that she hasn't met up with Danielle since her campaign started before going to prepare for the school debate.
Tiffany and Rick are at the beach waiting for Danielle to arrive. She soon does so, apologizing to them for being late. Despite this, the three enjoy a wonderful day out on the beach taking in the sand and sun. The next morning, Danielle comes up to Tiffany telling her that she's considering telling him about her crush. She also comes across Kelsey who also apologizes to her about what happened. Noticing that she is not her usual confident self, Danielle does her best to reassure her. She heads off, mentally thinking about what to say when she sees Rick talking to another girl.
Despondent, Danielle runs off to the girls bathroom. Tiffany and Suzanne enter the room, seeing Danielle in tears. Upon explaining the story to them, Tiffany pulls her into a hug and lets her cry on her shirt. After a while, she tells her that sometimes the things you think are meant to be can turn out to be false. Tiffany leads her out of the bathroom, unknowingly ignoring Suzanne's attempts to talk to her.
During lunch, Danielle sits with Tiffany trying to enjoy some girl bonding time when they see Rick coming up to them, a look of concern on his face. He explains that what happened earlier was a big misunderstanding and goes to introduce the girl. In walks another girl, Rick's science project partner. Upon realizing this, Danielle gets up and confesses his crush on him, admitting to having one since 9th grade.
Rick then tells her that he's felt the same way about her. She's very nice, kind to others, always looking on the bright side. The two make their relationship official with a kiss, the entire cafeteria watching and celebrating excluding Kelsey who tries to maintain neutrality despite clearing being crushed.
Morning dawns on the McCorbin household, Connor enters Kelsey's room, finding that she has been up all night, focusing on the debate. Despite looking like a mess, she assures him that everything is fine. Once he leaves, Kelsey gets her journal and feverently writes about seeing Danielle confess her love to Rick, trying her best not to cry.
Suzanne sits on her bed looking through a scrapbook of memories with Danielle when they were younger, finding one photo of them at the front of the house, smiling at the camera. She takes it out of the book and turns it again, reading the message. "Always together, now and forever. Love, Danielle." She frowns, crumpling up the picture.
School principal Mr. Patterson (Paul Levesque) and vice-prinicipal Mr. Daniels (Shawn Michaels) introduce the student council debate. After going over the rules, the two combatants shake hands despite there being clear tension.
After a clean start, Mr. Daniels brings up the controversy regarding the video Kelsey posted on the internet much to Patterson's chagrin. Kelsey admits that doing this was dirty on her part, but that it had to be done. Suzanne's video is then brought up, with her taking full responsibility for her actions and apologizing. She hesitates before telling the debate hosts that ever since the incident, she has been bullied and ostracized by Kelsey's supporters and merely wishes for forgiveness or at least accountability for their actions.
Unnerved, Kelsey puts up a weak non-explanation saying that all candidates should be willing to do whatever it takes to become president before Daniels eggs her on to explain, eventually getting her to crack and admit she's been a victim of this too. She has lost many friends who prefer Suzanne and that they don't know the real her. The one at her father's party. She wishes things didn't have to escalate to this, but it's too late. It is there Patterson informs everyone that this debate is about matters surrounding the school, not surrounding their personal lives.
The penultimate question of the night is asked, "What is your number one goal with the campaign?". After Kelsey gives her vaguely inspiring speech, Suzanne outlines her full platform saying that she wants everyone to have a say on the issues that matter and wants to ensure every position is working efficiently before saying she wishes to one day implement a day where all students are given one hour to do whatever personal business is needed.
Everyone goes silent, even Suzanne who to her horror realizes that she never once brought this up. When asked how she plans to make it work, she struggles to answer before saying she'll think of something. Sensing blood in the water, Kelsey claims that her inability to form a true platform proves that she is unfit to be president. Finally having enough, Suzanne asks her why she has to be like this when she has done nothing but show her respect. This shows why not only she's unqualified, but how she lost friends. Kelsey retorts, saying she at least has friends. Danielle doesn't even want to hang out with her anymore.
Patterson soon regains order, forcing the two to proceed with closing statements. Kelsey refuses, forcing Suzanne to finish off the debate. With tears in her eyes, all she can muster up is a sad "Vote for me". After the debate, Kelsey walks off with a guilty expression while Mr. Patterson is forced to console Suzanne.
That evening, Connor checks on Kelsey asking if everything is alright. She lies, hoping to soothe him. He lets her know that he'll be there for her if she needs anything and tucks her in for the night. That evening, Kelsey enters a nightmare where her actions are condemned by everyone she sees for her actions, ending with her being disqualified for excessive cruelty and her father disowning her. She soon wakes up, the full weight of her actions hitting her.
The next day, Tiffany enters the library, seeing a concerned Danielle. She tells Tiffany that Suzanne hasn't been returning her texts or voicemails since the debate. The two look all over the school with no sight of Suzanne anywhere. Finally Tiffany manages to find her, sitting alone, reading a book. The two try to approach her, but she ignores them. Danielle sits next to her, asking if she wants to join them in the library. Suzanne refuses, not wanting to get in their way.
Tiffany soon realizes why she's acting like this, asking if they've been neglecting her all this time. She remains silent, only confirming their fears with a nod. Danielle apologizes, saying she was so busy with the election, they thought she wouldn't have time for them. Suzanne wanted to get away from the stress of campaigning, but she's been spending all her time with Tiffany. Tiffany too apologizes, not meaning to get in the way of their friendship. The three all come together, promising to communicate with each other from now on.
Later that afternoon, Suzanne walks to her class when she hears someone crying. She looks around the hallways before coming across Kelsey. Concerned, she comes up to her, trying to ask what’s wrong. After pushing her aside, Kelsey admits she’s been so stressed about everything, from potentially losing the election to their rivalry. She fears that if she loses, she’s going to let her entire family down.
Hearing everything, Suzanne pulls her aside and tries to calm her down, assuring her that even if she doesn’t win her family will still be proud of her. Kesley stares at her, baffled at her kindness. Suzanne admits that even though things have been rough, she still feels that there's good inside Kelsey and they both apologize for their actions.
Kelsey admits one more thing, she fears that she's lost Danielle. As it turns out, Kelsey has had a crush on Danielle for a couple of years (hence why she was upset when she found Rick and her together). Kelsey begs her not to tell anyone. Suzanne promises, learning that Kelsey has been in the closet for a couple of years, having tried to keep it hidden because of her conservative lifestyle and fears what would happen if her family found out. Suzanne promises to be there to support her when she comes out and defend her if her family objects. The two make a vow to not say a bad word about the other for the rest of the campaign.
That night, Kelsey reminisces on how she realized her sexuality:
Two years ago:
Inside Danielle's bedroom, A group of girls are playing a game of spin the bottle. Danielle is told to spin the bottle next and despite hoping for Rick lands on Kelsey. Despite Leo's protests, Kelsey kisses Danielle on the lips. Afterwards, Kelsey runs to the bathroom, receiving her sexual awakening. Later that night, she approaches Danielle and asks if she wants to hang out tomorrow and she accepts.
At the local mall, Suzanne is treated to a day full of shopping by her friends, before having lunch at Sbarro's. Tiffany asks her if she's going to be okay. Suzanne admits she's nervous, but that she managed to talk to Kelsey, saying that they're cool now. As their food arrives, Tiffany tells everyone that there's one thing they can all agree on. Pizza is the best. Everyone toasts to that as they dig in.
The next day at 1:00 PM, the PA speaker blares throughout the halls, Mr. Patterson preceding. He exclaims that the votes this year were close, just one vote separating them. It is with pride that he declares that the new student council president will be…
Suzanne Davis.
As class lets out, Suzanne is greeted by her peers. Danielle and Tiffany rush up to her, putting her in a hug. She gives a brief speech before coming face to face with Kelsey. After a few seconds, Kelsey eases the tension, letting out her hand and congratulating Suzanne on her victory. She accepts the handshake, learning that Kelsey was the deciding vote. To celebrate, Tiffany gathers everyone together for a group selfie.
No comments:
Post a Comment