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During the prologue, a room filled with terrified Irish students listen while a professor solemnly warns them that their performance on the three-hour test laid before them will determine their success or failure in life. Liberally laced with irony, this subversive comedy from Irish director/co-writer and co-producer Graham Jones, centers on the attempts of six young friends to devise a way to cheat on their upcoming Leaving Certificate, a grueling comprehensive exam that will allow them to receive diplomas. The test causes so much anxiety that some students have committed suicide rather than risk failure. The young rebels are willing to fudge because they strongly believe that the test and the whole education system is hopelessly outdated and will not prepare them adequately for the future. As they carry on with their plan, the story takes a turn away from comedy into the realm of genuine suspense.