Ditch Party (2016) Survival Lesson

Survival Lesson: If you are barricaded in a room, do not open the door just because someone knocks. At least ask who it is, or better yet, establish a secret knock.

Synopsis: Teens barricaded in a room are randomly mean to each other with stereotypical quips while a shooter rampages round the school on the other side.

Rating: 3/10. As entertainment goes, this is not a great movie. It is plodding and slow and makes little sense, but it really isn't meant to be about entertainment. It is about messaging, so that is how I will evaluate it. Unfortunately, the messaging isn't very good either. Most of the movie is essentially a series of skits stitched together which put on display a variety of issues faced by teens, a lot of them related to absent or poor parents. While these are important and real issues, they are treated very superficially, so you just get this smorgasbard of issues with no real depth or conclusions.

A bigger problem, though, for me, is that the whole point of the movie is essentially being against stereotypes and not pigeon-holing people into subgroups and isolation, yet all of the characters are horribly stereotypical: the Hispanic janitor who gives inspirational encouragement to the stoner, the rich kid fondly reminiscing about trying on Versace shirts with diamond cufflinks with his dad, the gaming geek hackers, the random question out of nowhere asking the jock how long he has been using steroids, the list goes on.

Maybe it is just because I am in my 40's. Perhaps teens would find this relatable and engaging, but my gut feeling thinks that they will feel like this is talking at them and not to them, and lacks the depth of understanding to really provide any guidance for the things they are dealing with.

Another huge problem, for me, is that the school shooting part of the movie, actually isn't really necessary. Essentially it serves as the backdrop in which to stage this series of skits. Not only did it feel secondary, but it seemed very unrealistic, and being a topic of such importance deserves so much more than that.

I thought the young actors did a pretty good job with some tough material, and the ending was impactful, which is unfortunate, because I'm not sure everyone will make it that far.