‘Senior Year’ Starring Rebel Wilson Is Netflix’s Best Bad Movie

Netflix appropriately cops a great deal of flak for producing low-grade films, so we most likely should not motivate more like Senior Year. And yet, the Clueless-motivated high school funny starring Rebel Wilson in some way wins you over with its mix of familiar teenager movie product and Wilson’s improvisational schtick, primarily including semi-rude takedowns of the American high school elite.

The property: Stephanie Conway is a high school cheerleader who desires the best life. Her primary objective: end up being senior prom queen, wed the most popular person in school and reside in an estate. Yet when a competing undermines a cheer regimen, she winds up in a coma for twenty years. When she gets up, aged 37 however with the mind of a high schooler, she does the only thing that makes good sense: reenrols in school and projects to satisfy her imagine ending up being senior prom queen.

Basically nobody responds with any issue to somebody awakening from a head injury and going back to high school with teenagers half their age. There’s a clear sense Senior Year rely on our understanding of Mean Girls and Never Been Kissed to make its giddy dream world identifiable.

The familiar product goes to somewhat more special locations when Stephanie and her ’90s worths blend with today’s more progressive teenagers. She finds influencer culture and the currency of Followers, trying to make her livestreams end up being a “virus.”

There isn’t anything incisive to be gained from this and no, the jokes aren’t creative, however the basic favorable belief of Senior Year — its last message is to be yourself — offers it a strangely fantastic pureness. For all its faults, Senior Year is ignorant, safe escapism. That tends to make a hit nowadays.

Other cast members of note are Mary Holland as the inclusive school principal, Angourie Rice (of Spider-Man and Mare of Easttown popularity) as the young Stephanie and Zoë Chao as Tiffany, Stephanie’s old high school competitor and now mama of the coolest influencer in school.

Wilson, who gets to play Stephanie as an Australian, does her thing from the Pitch Perfect films, apparently improvising insults to remove the insane characters around her. There’s even a Pitch Perfect-like pep talk prior to a loud cheer regimen, led with absolutely no nervousness post-coma. Maybe versus the chances, Wilson’s schtick simply does not get old — the one Australian terrifying American high schoolers is a gratifying clash.

Is it entirely unoriginal? Yes. Does it use you down with its effort at recreating the innocent, happy world of Clueless up until you’re okay with how shallow it is? Also, yes.

It will not score high as a Proper Film, however Senior Year is an above average Netflix movie that accomplishes precisely what it assures. It’s silly, joyful, functions bangers from the ’90s and provides a naturally delighted ending.