2008, USA
Documentary, Drama, Family, Romance
High school has not changed. The jocks and prom queens still rule the school, the band geeks sink to the bottom, and the arty rebels float on the fringe. In Nanette Burstein's (The Kid Stays in the Picture) documentary American Teen, chaos falls into place as the senior year of a Warsaw, Indiana, school is recorded.
Much like The Breakfast Club, the main subjects of the film are given their labels at the outset, only to be slowly unraveled by the weighty issues which affect them. Princess Megan Krizmanich is the Big Blonde on Campus and extracurricular queen, jock Colin Clemens is the school's basketball star considered "second to Jesus" in Indiana, heartthrob Mitch Reinholt is Colin's best friend and source of many heartaches, rebel Hannah Bailey is the arty outsider who receives Mitch's affections, and geek Jake Tusing is the loner member of the band and video game hound.
The five stars were whittled down from 15 filmed students, with the 10 extras ultimately providing reaction footage for their friends' behaviors. Occasionally seeming contrived, such as when the cameras happen to witness the numerous instant reactions to an e-mailed topless photo, the individual stories are nonetheless moving.
Peer pressure, parental pressure and prayers for a miraculous change in social standing are all identifiable. Colin anxiously faces recruiters as his life hinges on a college scholarship versus an undesired entry into the Army. Megan lashes out at friends as she awaits news concerning acceptance to Notre Dame for which she risks a family legacy. Jake is ostracized as he attempts to wrangle a girlfriend and revealed to a screening audience that he enjoyed his chance to confide his troubles to the film crew.
Though Megan has an emotionally distressful secret that understandably affects her mood, her destructively jealous actions are still abhorrent (she would later stress that she has matured immensely since the filming). It is far easier to sympathize with the endearing Hannah, who not only is facing the usual highs and lows of teendom, but is haunted by the knowledge that her mother is manic depressive and fears she may fall into the same cycles. Depression is triggered by a relationship breakup, and the lack of parental stability allows her to wallow at home and miss school. As she openly questions her sanity, the feeling of being uniquely alone is one with which many teens will be able to commiserate.
As the teens confess their inner struggles, each dream and nightmare is distinctively animated. Megan finds comfort at the utopia that is Notre Dame, Colin floats to the Final Four with a Division I school, Hannah's interior thoughts are darkly illustrated and Jake finds his princess in a Legend of Zelda tribute.
As the teens look towards their immediate future, stresses accumulate as they attempt to satisfy their parents' wishes while also forging their own identities. On the cusp of the real world and the fear of true independence, they head towards their adult lives cautiously with dreams still rattling in their heads. As one character notes to another, "You've accomplished amazing things; you lived through high school."