(2011) 3.5 Jeremy Wheeler It's hard to describe Detention without spilling the goods. What can be said is that it's a lot more than a teen slasher flick. Though it might share some of Scream's postmodern comedic leanings amidst the slice-and-dice kills, there's more juice in the fruit than just that. Unpredictably wild and full of a bingo-cage grab bag of genre mash-ups, the flick miraculously remains cohesive despite walking a tightrope between mad brilliance and lunacy throughout its lean running time. At its core is a hyperstylized reaction to the last two decades of pop culture, with hip characters making fun of what's hip in what is ultimately an incredibly hip film. While parents can find guides to the teens' cryptic text messages online, the key to understanding Detention lies in piecing together its excessively creative puzzle. It's purposefully not for everyone, and that's a good thing. As with most cult films, the picture's admirers might feel strange if society as a whole embraced all of the crazy that's on display here. In short, Detention is weird…but normality is even weirder. Detention doesn't just bust out of the box, it destroys it. Just when you think it's going in one direction -- bam, it hits you like a ghost punch. Boom boom -- it's a teen comedy. Boom boom -- it's a slasher film. Boom boom -- you're in a sci-fi movie. And before you know it, the flick's riffing on '80s teen fantasy comedies. There's a lot in there. It sometimes feels like too much, but don't tell that to your buzzing brain, which will connect many of the dots after the credits roll -- or better yet, on your second or third viewing. The tale follows a select few high-school seniors in Grizzly Lake, a suburb like any other -- except there's a killer on the loose. Class outcast Riley Jones (Shanley Caswell) has enough on her mind: her ex-best friend stole the skater kid she was crushing on, her new best friend wishes he was the kid she was crushing on, and she's dateless for the prom with a bum leg stuck in a cast. If that's not enough, a maniac mimicking a slasher series called "Cinderhella" is stalking her. Meanwhile, the focus of her silent adoration, Clapton Davis (Josh Hutcherson), is trying to figure out why his new girlfriend is so obsessed with the '90s when he's not ducking an inevitable brawl with the football-star school bully. As the killings ramp up alongside strange occurrences within different cliques of kids, Riley and a motley group of classmates are thrown into a 12-hour detention by the hard-nosed Principal Verge (Dane Cook) that'll ultimately decide each one's fate. Detention is a little John Hughes -- if Hughes were up on today's lingo and into crazy drugs. The picture is certainly a product of modern moviemaking (à la Scott Pilgrim), funneling different inspirations into the cinematic equivalent of a mega Slurpee as director Joseph Kahn tears down the binary line of audiences' expectations and attempts an outlandish blend of cinematic madness. Just as Kahn's previous film Torque broke the outrageous speed barrier of modern racing flicks, Detention snaps the teen thriller's spine, using its framework to craft a unique movie that knows it's in for a few punches on the chin on its way to acceptance. Kahn and co-writer/film critic Mark Palermo worked on the script for three years, maddeningly shaping it to be appreciated with repeated viewings. Detention certainly isn't for everyone, but thanks to its sharp wit, fresh-faced cast, and sheer audacity, it will live on -- hopefully inspiring even crazier followers in the process.

Detention on AllMovie

Detention (2011)

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Detention

editor rating

user rating

mpaa rating

flags

Violence
Brief Nudity
Profanity

genres

Comedy

sub-genres

category

Feature

directed by

Joseph Kahn

countries

USA

release date

April 13, 2012 (USA - Limited)

run time

88 min.

produced by

Detention Films

released by

Samuel Goldwyn Films

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by Mark Deming synopsis

A handful of high-school students struggle to make it through senior year without dying in this manic satire of teen-themed slasher flicks and youth comedies. Riley (Shanley Caswell) is a clever but cynical social outcast at Grizzly Lake High School, and she's the unrequited love object of Sander (Aaron David Johnson), who is even less popular and more sexually frustrated than she is. Meanwhile, ironically named hipster Clapton (Josh Hutcherson) is head over heels for Ione (Spencer Locke), a beautiful but self-obsessed cheerleader. All four are waiting out their final year of high school, but it's anyone's guess if they'll see graduation, as a serial killer known as CinderHella is on the loose and preying on Grizzly Lake's student body. The principal (Dane Cook) is certain CinderHella is a disgruntled student and figures he can keep the prom from turning into a bloodbath by putting the likely suspects in all-day detention on the day of the big dance, but obviously that doesn't go as he planned. Meanwhile, various students struggle with shape-shifting, contract flesh-eating diseases, discover time travel, and fall victim to a gang making porn videos on school grounds. Directed by Joseph Kahn (who makes an uncharitable reference to his own directorial debut in the early reels), Detention received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival.

characteristics

- Popularity

- High School Life

- Serial Killers

- Spellbinders

- Time Travel

- Football-player

- Extraterrestrial

- Canadian [nationality]

- Body-switching

- Alien [not Human]

- Cheerleader

- Cheerleading

related movies

HIGH SCHOOL LIFE