The teen-horror sub-genre was once big money. In a post-Scream world, almost every horror released in its wake focussed on teenagers in some kind of horrific trouble. Eventually that grew tiresome and those films were replaced with the torture porn movement, which in turn was usurped by Blumhouse jump scares. Trends are circular though, and recent release Talk to Me has once more pushed teenagers to the forefront, making it a great time for Clare Cooney’s debut feature, Departing Seniors.
A teen slasher at its core, Departing Seniors subverts many of the anticipated tropes. It deconstructs the sub-genre and rebuilds it in new and unexpected ways. Set in the lead-up to the high-school graduation of a class of 2019, Departing Seniors joins outcasts Javier (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio) and Bianca (Ireon Roach). One of the only openly queer kids at school, Javier is the permanent target of the football jocks teasing. Rather than be a reclusive victim however, Javier routinely stands up to his tormentors, Departing Seniors already forgoing decades of traditional horror conventions. That Javier has this strength is exciting, the audience roots for him, willing him to get the upper hand over his bullies. Someone else has the same dream it appears, and slowly Javier’s persecutors start dying.
Not content to be a standard ‘whodunit’ slasher, Departing Seniors adds a little psychic spice. A nasty fall opens Javier’s mind and grants him the ability of second sight. Whenever he touches someone he gets a flash of either their past or future. This newly developed skill is just what is needed to solve the riddle of the killer. The focus on these premonitions sees Departing Seniors sidestep the traditional trappings of a slasher film, and break new ground as a hybrid.
Despite several dark elements of the script, Departing Seniors has an overall light and bright tone. Cooney’s film follows in the mantle of both Heathers and Tragedy Girls by peppering the horror with witty and zingy one-liners. The cast’s youthful exuberance overflows, coating Departing Seniors with that peppy feel that hasn’t been felt too often since the late nineties. As in Heathers, each character conforms to some type of cliche, but the performances of the actors ensure that none of them are one-note.
Another fun aspect of Departing Seniors is that these characters are media literate. Mentions of Carrie, and references to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, prove their knowledge. Cooney taps into some of the sparkle that made Scream so magic. It is often frustrating when characters in a horror movie are completely unaware of their fate; scary films seemingly do not exist in their fictional world. Whilst this tactic works to explain bad decisions, it is always more exciting when the protagonists are aware of the conventions.
As far as Cooney pushes the limits of the slasher, fusing it with several other subgenres and a healthy dose of humour, not everything is as fresh. As unconventional as the format of Departing Seniors is, the plot itself has one very predictable reveal. Those that are as media savvy as Javier and company will work out a certain identity far sooner than them. This does not taint the enjoyability of Departing Seniors, but will leave some a little deflated. Overall an entertaining and engaging spin on the teen slasher formation, Cooney’s debut provides hope that a surge of new and exciting youth centric genre movies might be on the horizon.
Departing Seniors
Summary
Unconventional but predictable at times, Departing Seniors provides plenty of proof that the teen-centric horror isn’t dead yet.
Departing Seniors was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2023.
