I finally got around to watching this movie and it really touched me, from both geographical and personal reasons. Namely, I could almost identify most of the scenery in the film from my hometown and the people from archtypes at my high school. It is based on a real life story that took place in 1992 in and around Sunny Hills High School and chronicles the descent of over-achieving teens to no better than animals. To boot, it has a morally ambiguous ending. More than purely existentialist, this film has deep roots in the depths of the human soul, re: the moral decay of the main character. It reminded me a lot of Heart of Darkness, another book that I need to finish reading one of these days. It was well composed and excellently put together on a budget of only $250,000 and is probably the only MTV sponsored film I’d ever recommend. Go out and see it (I believe it’s on DVD now).
The real criminal mastermind is now in jail without hope of parole and the others received similar sentences. That comforts me. What disturbs me most about the film, and the story in general, is that these were not teens begging for scraps of existence in Compton. These were bored, dramatic teens just like you or I. Psychopaths, maybe, or caught in circumstances, the dignity that human life carries with it was repeatedly abused and finally exterminated by them. I still remember some of the final words of the female lead:
“You know how you make decisions that lead to other decisions but you don’t remember why you made those decisions in the first place? Well, it’s like that.”
Get the real story here, but it’ll probably spoil part of the movie. Just watch it. Okay?