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When you’re a teenager, everything seems to revolve around high school—on your accomplishments, your social circle, your popularity. It’s not until you’re older that you realize that high school popularity means very little—but that’s a lesson that the aging cheerleader in the Netflix comedy Senior Year never got the chance to learn.
Senior Year follows 37-year-old Stephanie (Rebel Wilson) as she attempts to return to her high school greatness. Twenty years ago, a cheerleading stunt turned disastrous, leaving the cheer captain in a coma. When she wakes up, everything has changed. Her friends are responsible adults, and her high school boyfriend is married to her nemesis—but she’s still just as determined to become prom queen and kick off The Perfect Life. When she heads back to high school, though, she discovers that some things about high school have changed—while others remain painfully the same.
Though 20 years may have passed, Stephanie wakes up with the same tenacity that she’s always had—and she’s driven to pick things up right where she left off. But, of course, that’s easier said than done. Her friend Martha (Mary Holland) has become the school’s principal and has done away with the hierarchies and sexism of the past, turning the school into a place where the cheerleaders cheer not for boys playing sports but for social consciousness. Here, the most popular girl in school is a social media influencer who promotes individualism and acceptance—and there’s no such thing as a prom queen.
As you might expect, then, as this over-enthusiastic fish out of water races head-first into her mission to regain popularity and the cheer captaincy on her way to that prom queen crown, things get more than a little awkward. She shows up in the wrong clothes and struggles to understand social media—and, of course, she learns important lessons about friendship and fame to a nostalgic 1999 soundtrack.
Still, while the message is a good one—and this take on the classic teen rom-com can, at times, be clever—your enjoyment will depend a lot on your feelings about the star. Rebel Wilson tends to be outspoken and in-your-face. She’s about as outrageous as the setup to this film. And, admittedly, after a while, that makes this overgrown-teen comedy rather tiring.
With its quirky cast of quirky characters and its teen antics, Senior Year does have its entertaining moments. But that’s just not enough to make this a must-see for your Friday night viewing.
Senior Year begins streaming on Netflix on May 13, 2022.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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