Departing Seniors review.
Departing Seniors has some genuinely interesting ideas…but feels compelled to run towards something more familiar instead.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Departing Seniors
Directed by Clare Cooney
Written by Jose Nateras
Starring Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, Yani Gellman, Ireon Roach, Cameron Scott Roberts, Maisie Merlock, Cole Steeves and Lorena Diaz
Departing Seniors Review
Departing Seniors isn’t your typical teen slasher movie. Until it is. It introduces unique ideas…walks them up to the line…and then retreats from them. It’s an unfortunate result. Teasing fresh things only to end up in the same place everyone else does. Like its newly psychic main character…it lets you see glimpses of a possible future. Unlike its protagonist…it has too easy of a time changing it.
Javier (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio) is close to graduating from high school. He (and the movie) is counting down the days. He spends his time being bullied by the resident mean girl Ginny (Maisie Merlock) and her boyfriend Trevor (Cameron Scott Roberts). When an altercation results in Javier falling down the stairs…he wakes up in the hospital with a new ability. If he touches a person or an object…he can psychically see things he shouldn’t. When he sees impending death for the people who have made his life Hell…he is compelled to act.
It’s a bit of a reverse Carrie. Javier doesn’t have the ability to move things with his mind like Carrie White…but he does have unexplainable power…and he is the object of other kids’ cruelty. Ginny targets him because she feels her spot atop the class is threatened by his intelligence. Trevor seems to be in for old-fashioned homophobia. Instead of using his gift for evil (or at least turning a blind eye to it), Javier actively tries to help his tormentors.
Ginny and Trevor aren’t the only member of their little clique. Brad (Sasha Kuznetsov) has been lifelong friends with Trevor. He keeps his previous relationship with Javier a secret from everyone. When Javier lets that secret out…the group’s dynamic changes. It’s here that Departing Seniors finds its most interesting and fresh ideas.
Brad has a conversation with Javier following his accident that doesn’t play out the way you’d expect it too. It makes Brad an instantly compelling character. One that the movie removes far too quickly. Javier has a vision of Brad hanging himself and tries to stop it from happening. When he fails…it has a profound effect on Trevor. Trevor’s immediate response to finding out Brad’s secret was to be unsupportive. When Brad appears to have taken his own life…Trevor falls to pieces. It’s the most interesting character choice the movie could have made. The bully doesn’t double down…he doesn’t crack an inappropriate joke. He blames himself for not helping his friend. It makes Trevor an instantly compelling character. I bet you can guess who Javier’s next vision is about.
That’s Departing Seniors’ biggest issue. Every time it treats its stereotypical characters as three-dimensional beings…it removes them from the story instead of exploring them further. It rushes to return to a more standard whodunnit slasher movie. We’ve gotten deep into this review without bothering to mention that this is happening because a masked killer is on the loose. While the deaths in the story are attributed to suicide…Javier learns that they are the result of murder. We see this right from the opening scene. A character is killed and dumped into the school swimming pool before we know who anyone is. There’s a reason the masked killer plot was an afterthought in this review. It plays out as one in the movie too.
At least, it should have been. Departing Seniors continually moves on from more interesting ideas to return to a rote slasher plot that isn’t nearly as strong. Early in the story I made a note of who the killer was. I never had a reason to suspect anyone else…and ended up being right. The sign of a mystery that doesn’t work. A shame given the opportunities squandered to highlight it. Instead of a fascinating character piece…the story barrels towards an overly long ending featuring far too many characters. A movie that teased such unpredictability ending up in the most predictable place possible.
None of this is the fault of the talented cast. Diaz-Silverio makes for a fun lead. His bullies are fully realized characters…until they’re unceremoniously cut down, at least. Other supporting characters include his best friend Bianca (Ireon Roach) and possible love interest William (Ryan Foreman). They provide fine turns but end up muddying up an overstuffed ending.
By the time we reach that ending Departing Seniors is out of surprises to retreat from. It’s hard not to feel disappointed. The story ends up being very basic in the end. There are some big swings here…and some quieter, fascinating ones. In the end, the movie bunts for a single. It could have been worse. It so obviously could have been better.
Scare Value
There are many moments where Departing Seniors nearly commits to some truly original ideas. Instead, it retreats to something more familiar and predictable. A likable cast carries this further than a lot of teen slasher movies. They can’t fully make up for the frustration of wasted opportunities. An extremely predictable reveal is big letdown for a movie that flirts with a few new ideas.
2.5/5
Departing Seniors Links
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