‘Departing Seniors’ Movie Review: Anti-Bullying Slasher Underwhelms With Whodunit But Offers Likable Characters
Photo from IMDb
From Jeremy Kibler
Many humor-laced slasher films today have cleverly mashed together a killer-on-the-loose plot with a familiar high-concept hook. Instead of body-swapping or time travel this time, Departing Seniors is a high school slasher by way of The Dead Zone (and maybe a little Final Destination), in which our hero is suddenly able to see a person’s future with a mere touch. Debuting director Clare Cooney and writer Jose Nateras make do with a 16-day shooting schedule and a very modest budget to pull off such an ambitious premise with likable performances and actual concern for their characters.
The senior class of 2019 at Springhurst High is slowly diminishing. After a star swimmer dies in an apparent suicide (but it was actually murder by a killer in a drama club theater mask), it’s just the start of entitled jocks getting taken out. Good riddance, at least for Javier (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), an openly gay photographer for the school newspaper. He only has seven more days until graduation, but that doesn’t stop the bullies. His biggest allies are movie-fan best friend Bianca (Ireon Roach) and their AP English teacher, Mr. Arda (Yani Gellman, or for all of the fellow Lizzie McGuire Movie fans out there, Paolo). Otherwise, preppy class president/valedictorian perfectionist Ginny (Maisie Merlock) is the meanest of all, complicit even when her letterman-jacket boyfriend Trevor (Cameron Scott Roberts) and his closeted friend Brad (Sasha Kuznetsov) are the ones intimidating Javier. After a near-death prank that sends him to the hospital, Javier discovers he can see memories and premonitions. With these new powers, maybe he can solve who’s slashing his classmates?
Departing Seniors doesn’t just turn its characters into blank meat puppets on a chopping block, but gives us two empathetic lead characters we want to see live and characters that maybe don’t deserve to live as long (like a student who’s called “a bitch” even by her teacher). Ignacio Diaz-Silverio makes for a lovably witty, self-confident Javier, and the engaging Ireon Roach, as his ride-or-die Bianca, couldn’t be a more perfect match. They have a glib but sweet and delightfully funny back-and-forth that’s so infectious to watch. One also can’t help but root for a budding romance between Javier and trumpet player William (Ryan Foreman).
The inclusivity of a queer Mexican-American final boy is more than welcome and never feels like box-checking for the sake of it. The script by Jose Nateras handles Javier’s new special power as organically as possible without getting into the expository weeds, and references to other movies are worked in without feeling wedged-in. A senior lock-in sets up the opportunity for a much bigger finale; instead, Javier’s unwanted clairvoyance is suddenly dropped, and the monologuing climax is set on the school’s theater stage (perhaps a tip of the hat to Scream 2?). Even with a few red herrings, the identity of the killer is also a bit underwhelming, as it’s easy to clock from the moment this person walks on screen.
In spite of its limitations, Departing Seniors is a solidly entertaining anti-bullying slasher that works because of its smartly written characters.
Rating: 3/5
Departing Seniors hits select theaters on February 2nd, 2024.
