Departing Seniors

2023

Comedy / Horror / Mystery / Thriller

5
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 63% · 16 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 81%
IMDb Rating 5.6/10 10 449 449

high school bullying premonition murder clique latinx

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Plot summary

After an act of bullying sends Javier to the hospital, he begins experiencing visions that foresee glimpses of shocking murders at his school right before they happen. Now, in between navigating the social hierarchies and prejudices of clique culture, Javier and his best friend Bianca must try to unmask a serial killer before he strikes again.

Director

Clare Cooney Photo
Clare Cooney

Top cast

Yani Gellman Photo
Yani Gellman as Mr. Arda
Ignacio Diaz-Silverio Photo
Ignacio Diaz-Silverio as Javier
Ryan Foreman Photo
Ryan Foreman as William
Maisie Merlock Photo
Maisie Merlock as Ginny
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
783.55 MB
1280*470
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds 100+
1.57 GB
1920*704
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds 100+

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by striklix 7 / 10

"I'm gonna need so much therapy."

Well I can fairly confidently say that I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to and I was genuinely pleasantly surprised and impressed with the way it turned out in the end and while I will definitely say that this isn't anywhere near the best thing I have watched lately or even close to being the best thing in this specific sub genre of horror films... it still worked really well for me and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and that's really all I could have hoped for going in to this and was honestly even more then I expected, but I am very glad that it turned out to work so well for me as I really had fun with my time here and that's always a great sign. This is another horror comedy film that's in the same vain as "Happy Death Day" or "Freaky", where it's based around a slasher going around a school killing a bunch of people but there's also some wacky supernatural twist that gets thrown in there as well, for the previous two I mentioned those were a Groundhog Day type repeating day and of course a "Freaky Friday" type body swap... but in "Departing Seniors" the supernatural element added here is the ability to have visions whenever the main character touches something that belongs to a person.. either being able to view into the future or the past but not particularly able to control it. It's an interesting concept and I like the overall idea of it quite a bit but that also brings us to easily what the worst part of this movie was in my eyes. The absolute worst part of "Departing Seniors" as a whole is just the sheer fact that despite having a very unique, interesting, and very compelling premise to go along with it.. it doesn't really manage to use that concept effectively in any real meaningful way that would lead to this movie being any better than it actually is, and that is by far the worst part about this movie and also just the most disappointing by a long shot. It's a serious let down whenever they introduce such an engaging and intriguing part of the movie to only have it be used to absolutely nothing until the very last sequence of the film and every other time it's relevant it ends up leading to nothing and just serves to bring the characters to the location where something is going to happen without actually giving them the chance to do anything about it. It's kind of cheap whenever your main character can see into the future but fails at doing anything about it honestly, but it's a good thing the rest of the movie worked a lot better for me because that really dampened it's effect. While that is truly a fairly negative thing about this movie that wholeheartedly dragged it down quite a bit from the potential it could've easily had, it didn't inherently ruin the movie for me and I liked the rest of it way more than enough to somewhat justify that decision and still give me a reason to enjoy it even if I feel like they had a major missed opportunity there and fumbled the bag in one significant way.. it's honestly saved by the rest of the movie being pretty great at what it does and making for an extremely entertaining watch. Although; I wholeheartedly guessed the main twist of this movie within the very first few scenes of its opening act but I don't know if that is actually the movies fault for being obvious or if I just guessed well.. either way it didn't ruin anything about the experience for me and I honestly just felt gratified that I knew where it was gonna go. Easily my favorite part about this movie and really what I think it does the best is just developing it's characters and actually making them decently engaging to watch and incredibly emotionally intelligent and entertaining from the get go, this is both in large part due to the acting in this movie which is genuinely pretty amazing from the entire cast, and also the writing which while very cliche at times and not the best ever works perfectly for the story here and is even better when it comes to fleshing out the characters and their individual relationships with the people surrounding them... so even if it's not particularly great when it comes to the aforementioned supernatural aspect it's at least well done when it comes to emotional beats with characters and actually making them inherently interesting and compelling to follow through this journey. Most notable out of both of those things being the phenomenally done performances from the entire cast here but definitely most notably from our leading man Ignacio Diaz-Silverio who is perfect as the lead here and is extraordinarily entertaining to watch and his sheer range of emotions on display here is genuinely very impressive and especially when it came to dealing with another character.. Brad played wonderfully as well by Sasha Kuznetsov, and their relationship dynamic here was both gut wrenching but also heartwarming and at the very least insanely engaging to watch and they both did a fantastic job in their respective roles. Also I definitely have to mention Cameron Scott Roberts as Trevor who did great and his reaction to what happens was executed brilliantly - Maudie Merlock as Ginny who was the least interesting character here but still very well acted and she sucked to watch a whole lot, great mean girl character - Yani Gellman as Mr. Arda who did a great job as well - and most importantly of all the side cast here Ireon Roach as Bianca who was utterly hilarious and worked perfectly as the horror obsessed best friend comic relief character here and every scene with her was done amazingly and she was just very funny, especially her chemistry with our leading man which was great. Listen I'm not going to go around saying that this was the best movie I have seen this year or even close to being the best movie i have seen in this specific horror sub genre.. but I can very confidently assess that it's a damn good time that has some really heavy themes but they're handled in a very good way that makes it inherently very interesting to see unfold and had me hooked from the very beginning which is always a good sign for a horror film. It's not a fantastic slasher by any means and it really underutilized its main appeal and the unique quality it has but it still excels when it comes to everything else it tries to do and that's more than enough for me personally. While this may not be amazing it's an enjoyable watch that I think is definitely worth the time to check out and even though it can be very cliche at times and just a little too out there I still think it holds together well and it brings it all together in the end in a satisfying way. Not the best but not bad at all, I recommend watching this especially since it's free on Tubi, and if you're into these types of movies I can see this being great. Good.
Reviewed by jorgito2001 7 / 10

Fun little slasher, in the vein of "Happy Death Day"

Every once in a while you find a horror gem among tons and tons of crap on the various TV streamers and this one is a good one for sure! The direction is on point and the acting is surprisingly good. Plenty of twists and turns throughout the story will keep you guessing. Saying anything else to avoid spoilers, but has "Happy Death Day" vibes with the better elements of "Scream".Some Gory Gore hounds may be disappointed by the lack of blood and guts, and I doubt this one will be winning horror film of the year, but it doesn't detract from a fun "whodunnit?" teen slasher on a non-Hollywood budget.
Reviewed by Reviews_of_the_Dead 7 / 10

Slasher with Comedy Elements and Explores Interesting Ideas

This was the first movie that I saw at Nightmares Film Festival 2023 as it kicked off Day One. This was the Ohio premiere for this film. I did read up a bit about it at work and it fit into a criterion for an October movie challenge as well so I knew that this had LGBTQ+ elements in it.Synopsis: following an act of bullying, witty high school senior Javier (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio) develops psychic abilities which he must use to stop a mysterious serial killer targeting his classmates.We start seeing Phil (Cole Steeves) bully an underclassman. The senior is convinced that because this younger swimmer messed up, it cost him winning a state championship in his final swim. Someone is stalking Phil after he lets the younger boy up. Whoever this is, they have on a drama mask. The killer slashes the wrists of Phil and pushes him into a pool. It is then thought that Phil committed suicide.It then shifts to seven days before graduation. Javier is in the computer lab working on the school website. He is joined by his friend Bianca (Ireon Roach). I do want to point out that Javier is gay. He's been having a secret relationship with a jock, Brad (Sasha Kuzentsov). Javier hasn't even told Bianca.The following Monday, we see that Javier is bullied. Trevor (Cameron Scott Roberts) leads the way here along with his girlfriend, Ginny (Maisie Merlock). Trevor is also best friends with Brad, who doesn't step in despite his relationship with Javier. I also want to bring up that Ginny is competing with Javier to be valedictorian. She thinks he is close due to being a gay and Hispanic. The problem is that she does everything by the book without necessarily putting in real thought or effort.There is an accident that happens at school. William (Ryan Foreman) shows interest in Javier. Ginny wants to get back at the latter for mocking her in class. Trevor helps her to set up a 'meet up' between the two males in the library. This ends with Javier revealing that Brad is in the closet. They chase Javier and he falls down a set of stairs.He wakes up in the hospital and is relatively fine, with one major change. Nurse Ramirez (Lorena Diaz) touches him and he has a vision. He has another by touching a painting in his room. This has him rattled. Bianca talks to him about it, but she isn't nearly as concerned as her friend is. This power comes in handy when Javier sees Brad trying to kill himself in the locker room. With the nurse and the painting, it was visions of the past. With his secret lover, it is of the future. Javier isn't getting the full story with his vision and there is something much more sinister going on.That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is we have an interesting meshing of stories here. At the heart of this, we have a high school slasher film. We don't know who the killer is so Javier is using his newfound psychic abilities to figure out who is behind it. This made me think of The Dead Zone. What is great here is that Bianca is a movie buff. She asks if he's seen the movie or read the book. Javier hasn't, but the reference is for cinephiles or avid Stephen King readers. Since I fell in both camps, I appreciate it.Then sticking with the murders, I want to delve a bit more into this. What is great here is that all the deaths are made to look like suicides. That is keeping the heat off the killer. The first looks like he slit his wrists. The second is hanging in the locker room. This continues until the climax. I do have a gripe here though. There is no way that they would continue to have classes or after school functions with this much tragedy. I get why the movie does what it does, but it is a bit out of the realm of believability as well. Making the killings look like suicides though, that is a great idea.Let's then shift to the supernatural elements. I like how it is used here and that Javier isn't given complete visions. He sees things and tries to piece together what is happening. A good aspect is that he asks his father, Javier Sr. (Dale Rivera), if they a history of mental illness. It turns out that the did have a family member who also claimed to be psychic and she was called crazy. It's also good that it doesn't happen with everyone he touches. It can also work through touching items they've touched. I do have to say that the rules feel a bit loose, but not enough to ruin this. I do also think they get away from the psychic stuff for a long stretch as we build to climax. It almost then felt like just a plot device to keep us moving.I did want to say that I guessed who the killer was. I'm not going to hold it against the movie as it isn't a giveaway. I've seen a good number of these murder mysteries and gialli, so I started to breakdown what we know and what is being given to us. I'll credit this for what they provided with red herrings. My only issue is that we don't have enough of them personally.One last bit about the story as well is the commentary. We have a gay lead character. He is bullied in part because of that. This also has ripple effects that drives a wedge between Trevor and Brad. It has a realistic look though at teens and how their peers can judge them. It does well in showcasing how difficult it can be for sure.I think next, I'll take this to filmmaking. I'll start with the cinematography which I thought was good. I like what they do with the visions. We see Javier sharing injuries when he is seeing visions and I thought that was a good touch that he's seeing things through the eyes of who he is touching. The editing works there as well. I'd guess that almost everything here was done with practical effects. As a slasher film, I think we have interesting kills in that they look like suicides. The soundtrack fit the vibe the movie needed as well. I do have a gripe that I tend to have with slasher films is that it is deliberately paced. It is a bit slow as the deaths slow down and we gear up to the climax. I do think it builds enough good things in the first half and we see how these deaths are weighing on our lead. The last sequence at the senior lock in does move along.What I'll end out here with then is the acting. I thought this was good. Diaz-Silverio and Roach are in great tandem. I love their banter back and forth. They feel like old friends. I also like Diaz-Silverio as our lead. I care about what happens to him, which I need for a slasher film. Gellman is good as this teacher who cares about his students. I like the development of his character. Roberts, Merlock and Kuzentsov are good bullies. I liked Foreman in his role. I'll give credit to Diaz, Rivera and the rest of the cast to round this out for what was needed as well.In conclusion, this is a solid supernatural slasher. What I'll say is that this is a rare one where we have good ideas behind the killings to hide that they're murders. There are also likeable and unlikeable characters with good performances all around. I do have negatives with the slower pacing, but that is what I expect with slasher films. It also feels like the psychic stuff is there as a plot device. This is still well-made though with the effects, cinematography and the rest of filmmaking. It also has good commentary with our lead being gay and the bullying that stems from it. It is fitting. I'd recommend this to slasher fans as this is a solid modern one for sure. I can see the commentary turning people off though, so be warned.My Rating: 7 out of 10.
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