Film: Honor Society
Starring: Angourie Rice, Gaten Matarazzo, Amy Keum, Ben Jackson Walker, Armani Jackson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Director: Oran Zegman
Streaming: Paramount+
Review: Klep Napier
Rating: 3X’s out of 5X’s
If you’re looking for your typical teen rom-com about the popular girl who reluctantly falls for the nerd after she realizes he’s the type of guy she’s been missing all a long, then watch something else. Honor Society pretends to be as shallow as ‘Mean Girls’, when really it has ‘Crueler Intentions’ proving once again that teenagers are sometimes god awful to one another!
Starring Angourie Rice and Gaten Matarazzo, Honor Society Follows over achiever, Honor (Rice) as she narrates a mischievous scheme in order to make sure she lands the perfect recommendation into Harvard. However, Honor and her pawns, Michael (Matarazzo), Kennedy (Amy Keum) and a few others, have no idea that Honors actions will open doors to self discovery and chance, changing the course of all of their lives for better or for worst.
Honor Society is the pure definition of the term “never let ‘em know your next move” although the first half of the movie plays very much cliche in the genre of teen movies. Some moments even feel exactly like Rice’s performance in the Netflix film Senior Year, however the charm really begins to shine through once Honor and Michael (Matarazzo) meet. The “love story” is the better moments of the film, but it is truly the dark and twisted climax of the film that earned this film a standing ovation from me.
Honor Society turns the teen movie genre on its head just when you’re feeling like you’re getting the same old thing. Gaten Matarazzo’s performance is icing on the cake but you’ll have to earn his brilliance if you can stick around through the first two acts.
Honor Society is steaming now on Paramount+