by Austen Terry, Contributing Writer
TikTok has recently caused me to learn about several movies I didn’t even know were in development, and Honor Society is one that piqued my interest. I first saw the trailer for this movie on my TikTok’s For You page while doom scrolling one night, and I immediately I knew I wanted to see it. The trailer showed the charm between the two leads, Angourie Rice and Gaten Matarazzo, both of whom have played characters I adored, with Rice portraying the MCU Spider-Man’s Betty Brant, and Matarazzo portraying Dustin on Stranger Things. Both these actors have that adorkable charm that was really sold in the trailer, along with some other familiar faces who pulled me in. Will familiarity and charm be enough to push Honor Society to the top of the class?
Honor Society tells the story of Honor Rose (Rice), who has dreamed since freshman year of leaving her small town and going off to Harvard, but some obstacles stand in her way. She needs recommendations from the guidance counselor Mr. Calvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and three other students: nerd Michael Dipnicky (Matarazzo), all-star athlete Travis Biggins (Armani Jackson), and quiet, studious playwright Kennedy Smith (Amy Keum). Honor will stop at nothing to get what she wants, so she sets out in the beginning to destroy the academic careers of Michale, Travis, and Kennedy. But things take a turn that Honor didn’t calculate for. Like I said, this movie has incredible charm, but it has an incredible heart as well, and it pulls off a feat I didn’t think was possible. There are times you struggle to like Rice and Matarazzo — there are times when they are both downright evil.
The younger cast really makes this movie because they all play off of each other and work well together. I also have to give props to the director, Oran Zegman — with this being her feature debut, she really accomplished bringing the best out of her actors. Writer David A. Goodman builds a great story, and even uses some clever Ferris Bueller-style fourth wall-breaking decently well. But what keeps the story from getting to the next level is that some of Honor’s dialogue doesn’t quite feel like something a teenage girl would say. All in all, Rice brings something to this style of story that is quite different from others like it that makes it charming and something I will definitely watch again. Zegman also uses tracking shots very cleverly to get us from scene to scene without having to feel out of place.
Rice’s character is downright evil in the beginning, finding ways to push certain students from their current path to their dreams. This, in some ways, backfires, and shows how good of a person she is even if her intentions were misguided. She uses very manipulating and gaslighting methods to get what she wants and has a sort of disdain for most of the people in her life. Matarazzo, however, shows kindness and compassion a lot of the time, especially with the fact he’s is bullied by almost everyone at school. Rice and Matarazzo have incredible chemistry together, but more so as friends — them getting into any kind of relationship outside of friendship does feel kinda forced. By all means, the trailer hints at them falling for each other; that’s why I went in thinking this was a romantic comedy, but was somewhat surprised at the twist at the climax. With building towards this twist after watching the film, I did see where it was predictable that the story was going where it was going, but I still enjoyed the ride.
The movie does have some fantastic costumes throughout. Rice plays a girl who dresses in quirky stylized outfits every day, and it seems like she would have to be up at 4 a.m. every morning to get ready for school. Kennedy has this as well; she hand sews historically accurate outfits that resemble brilliant women from history, and her sewing skills do come in handy. This movie also deftly handles the struggle of being popular and in the closet at the same time, and I for one am loving the films I have seen lately portray of gay people. The representation of allowing gay people to exist in a story as themselves, and not be massive stereotypes, is refreshing in today’s media, and this film does a fantastic job with the representation given.
By all means, this story works better as a coming-of-age film, allowing each of the characters to express who they are, and not allowing society or parents to tell you who to be, and each actor does fantastic work with their characters. There is of course one character I loathe (which is the point of him), and is the only problem the film has, and that is Mr. Clavin. Mintz-Plasse does play this character well, even though it causes me to want to punch him in the face and drag him far away from this school. Mr. Calvin is a big part of the film because he is friends with someone who went to Harvard and will write a letter of recommendation to the administration based on Calvin’s recommendation. I have never wanted to attend Harvard, but movies make it seem like it would be easier to sneak into Area 51 than to get admitted into Harvard. This movie is no different, and with at least four students at this school wanting to go there, it makes Harvard a character all its own. At the end of the movie, I seriously wanted to find this high school’s administration and ask who hired Calvin, because he clearly should not be allowed to work at a high school.
Honor Society is full of charm and heart that will definitely leave you laughing, crying, and loving Rice’s portrayal of Honor. This movie premiered on Paramount + and is a great watch, but it is rated TV-MA, though that’s mostly for language any young adult or teenager could watch it with no problem. Finally, this movie held my attention throughout the one hour and 36-minute runtime and didn’t have me checking my phone every five minutes. I definitely recommend it and will definitely be checking it out again.
Score: 8/10
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