Written by: Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro
Directed by: Fernando Lebrija
Starring: Brandon Broussard (screenplay by, story by), Hudson Obayuwana (screenplay by, story by), Jana Savage
(screenplay by, story by)
Rating: TV-14
Plot
When nerdy high schooler Dani attracts the interest of her longtime crush, she must learn how to handle the pitfalls of high school when his social media celebrity ex becomes her enemy.
Verdict
This is part '90s teen movies like She's All That (1999), while desperately wanting to and failing to be a modern John Hughes teen movie. It incorporates a lot from the genre, though makes a choice to not directly copy. The main story is flimsy with character development forced to fit, resulting in a shallow movie.
Skip it.
Review
This starts with an online bully premise and then hits many high school tropes we've seen before. The addition here is that this includes social media. Dani is the nerdy kid who's not hot because she dresses bad, her artistic friend is in love with her but she doesn't know, Kate Walsh plays a kooky mother figure, Dani's crush was with the hottest girl in school but is now single, Dani's college acceptance hinges on one recommendation, and Dani even becomes one of the mean girls.
This pulls in a lot of ideas from other movies while trying to not specifically copy them. Dani's crush, the hot, rich athlete has a thing for her. The plot isn't Dani trying to win him over. The dorky best has a crush on Dani, but this isn't about him admitting it.. Dani doesn't really have to jump through hoops to get into her college of choice.
What set John Hughes movies apart were the characters, but this fails to develop characters of any interest. Each character hits a specific trope, present only to further the story as needed. The story should build around Dani's arc, but there is no foundation there.
The end of course works out with a bow, but the only strife is that Dani falls into the mean girl crowd. For a character that seems smart, it's ridiculous that she falls into that trap. Your worst enemy for years promises to be your best friend and you fall for it? I knew from the start is was a long con. After years of abuse one nice word turns it around? Responsible Dani then becomes irresponsible, failing at her job, ignoring her best friend, and losing her crush. The pinnacle is her enemy turned best friend humiliating her online.
This is a teen sit-com episode stretched way too far. Everything works out so easily for Dani that I'm not even interested. The only source of drama is just ridiculous. With no idea how to go out on a high note, this throws a few different endings at you and might as well include a character winking to the audience with how forced they are, hoping one will rise to mediocrity.
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