And people say comedy is dead. Well, they haven’t seen Netflix’s latest teen comedy about some high school freshmen looking to par-tay. The hyphenated version is absolutely necessary by the way. In this latest high school romp, three pretty average dudes (because, we don’t really do nerds and geeks anymore), find themselves in the middle of a total rager. Not really, but, a 2024 version of a rager. It’s like if Project X had a version that was Pg-13.
There’s nothing here you haven’t really seen before. Crude jokes, usual teen behavior, but all representative of this current Gen Alpha lifestyle. They all haven’t seen Euphoria, but someone at this party has. They might not all care about pronouns, but most of them do. They definitely hit bongs, and drink alcohol like every generation of teen film basically ever. There’s some mention of sex, some ogling of the girls, but it has a 2024 vibe. It is less like a conquest of the woman, and more of a feeling that “society requires that I lose my virginity to someone”.
I’ve been going back through the American Pie franchise, and while that film has some resemblance, in that kevin and Jim feel really average, this film avoids having a Stifler, or homophobic jokes, or a weird Nadia-esque character.
What it does instead is have Bobby Cannavale (of all people) play a teacher who swings by the party and teaches the kids how to get higher… better. Every generation has their own things, and teen films are constantly evolving, even if just by a little bit. Clueless is very different from American Pie, despite being only 4 years apart in release year, and this feels different from 2018’s Blockers, despite only a six year gap.
Hulu’s Prom Dates goes further, and makes bolder choices. incoming is a safer bet, but has that carbon copy feel of everything that came before it. And, while the audio description may not be above and beyond, it did enough to help the jokes land, and tie this in as a somewhat average, or slightly above average teen comedy.
they don’t make them like they used to, but they still make them.
Final Grade: B-