Prom Dates review: A lively entry into the raunchy teen buddy comedy subgenre
A little too feel-good, at least this prom-com boasts plenty of actual jokes
Film Reviews Prom Dates
As far back as they can remember, Prom Dates’ Hannah (Julia Lester) and Jess (Ginny & Georgia’s Antonia Gentry) always wanted to have a spectacular senior prom. At 13, the two even went as far as to make a blood pact, swearing that they would do whatever it took to make the fateful night one to remember.
Flash forward a couple of years and the duo seem to be on the right track. They each have dates lined up. Neither date is perfect. Jess’s Luka (Jordan Buhat) has a license plate that reads “RICH BOI” and Greg (Kenny Ridwan) is obsessed with Hannah to the point where he probably keeps a box of her stray hairs hidden in his closet (not to mention Hannah actually likes girls). But a date is a date, right? Things get a little complicated, however, when, the night before prom, Jess catches Luka cheating and Hannah finally reaches her wit’s end and breaks things off with Greg, leaving the two with less than 24 hours to find suitable new dates. And thus, the perfect teenage girl buddy-comedy plot begins to wittily unravel.
Directed by Kim Nguyen, Prom Dates mostly makes good on its promise to honor this delightful subgenre. Admittedly, the implausible situations that the duo find themselves in sometimes feel like a result of Nguyen trying a little too hard to be shocking, and you won’t find much to be surprised by during your viewing experience. Don’t put on Booksmart or Superbad directly afterwards or you might end up with a bad case of déjà vu. But when watching a comedy of errors that is so consistently energetic and committed to having a good time, it’s hard to care too much about all of that.
And besides, Prom Dates actually has a sense of humor, which oddly isn’t a given in comedies these days. The film is filled with genuine laugh-out-loud moments, one of which includes John Michael Higgins fitting an entire condom over his head. And while both Lester and Gentry flaunt impressive comedic timing, it’s Lester that carries Prom Dates’ comic throughline. Perpetually flustered, she turns every small moment into a raucous catastrophe, making for an undeniably uproarious watch.
What’s also refreshing about watching Lester in action is that her character is really well-written by screenwriter D.J. Mausner (Baroness Von Sketch Show). At first, she veers dangerously close to serving no other purpose than the comic relief bestie (one of her first scenes shows her simultaneously farting and choking in front of her crush), but later on she becomes much more interesting. As Prom Dates unravels into chaos, Hannah’s character becomes a moving exploration of confidence and identity—and Lester navigates it all with subtle grace. Jess is fun to watch, too, if not a little less plausible, seeing as she inexplicably has the confidence of a 40-year-old CEO.
That all said, it’s hard not to wonder if Prom Dates would have been more engaging if the stakes had felt a little higher. Sure, it’s vital for Jess and Hannah to have a great prom night…but why? It often feels like the answer to that question was, “Because this movie needed a plot.”
Prom Dates’ high-concept plot is simply a vehicle for two things: a succession of funny sequences (who can really be mad at that?) and a handful of touchy-feely self-discoveries. It won’t come as a surprise when Jess and Hannah’s night of trials and tribulations culminates in a long-time-coming rift in their friendship, and, ultimately, some pretty poignant look inward. Of course, it’s always great to see a character undergo some positive changes, but most things in movies are better shown than said, and that includes two teenagers describing their flaws in an in-depth way that most people will never have the wherewithal or self-reflection capabilities to do over the course of their lifetime.
But despite its insistence on walking away with a moral, Prom Dates succeeds in being what it set out to be: a neatly-packaged, highly entertaining comedy. Not many modern comedies boast the ability to make you laugh more than cringe, but I’m more than happy to give Prom Dates that trophy.
19 Comments
People still play Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
Mate, it’s now *retro*. God help me.
If they have enough people who can actually get together and play it with them, sure. I think that’s the reason it kind of died off, is that the generation that played it quite literally grew out of it. Like, the first time I even saw one was at a party in college and it blew my mind. But then we graduated (or dropped out), and everybody moved their separate ways and we couldn’t just hang out and get hammered (well, not regularly at least). Nowadays, online stuff has largely obliterated the days of couch co-op in games, but there’s a whole new generation coming to the age where they’re gonna be having their own hangouts and parties and I think those games could theoretically be poised to make a comeback.That is… if they made them. These days to even get Guitar Hero/Rock Band instruments you’ve gotta go online or search through classic gaming shops (if you can find one) and thanks to the fact that they’re now mostly only on older consoles (I don’t think those old games are up on any of the companies’ e-shops) you’d have to dig one of those up too.Ha. I kind of talked myself out of why it would be possible over the course of typing this post…
It doesn’t help that the height of the popularity of it was two generations back and backwards compatibility is a huge pain. You can get a version that runs on Xbox Series X/S but getting instruments that will work is the issue. There are adapters and rewiring guides but the whole thing is a really mess and shame.
Granted at this point they’ve created instruments that’ll work for that version of Rock Band without issue, but they’re technically created for Fortnite because anyone that was working on Rock Band is now working on Fortnite.
For anyone else who thought, “I wish an embedded trailer had been included in that write-up”, my gift to you:
Now having watched the trailer I know this movie isn’t for me.
So.. thank you?
Saw the trailer on Hulu and it somehow morphed into the movie…
Has there ever been made a teen comedy where the teen or teens actually don’t go to prom, or don’t have dates, and…it’s okay? I’d love to see a movie where the message is it’s okay if you don’t want to go to the big party, or don’t have a date. God knows I never had a date to prom, and I felt so ashamed, because that was drilled into us that you had to go to this thing and have a date.
Suncoast – it’s a story about a teen girl and her mother (Laura Linney) who care for the teen’s immobile brother. Early on, the brother is admitted into a hospice care facility which becomes surrounded by protesters – Terry Schivo is another patient there. During all of this, the girl wants to break free, be with friends, enjoy being a teenager, but her mother’s demands take too much. It involves a prom that doesn’t go as planned. Needless to say, it’s not much of a comedy, in fact it doesn’t really drive home an “it’s okay” message that you mentioned, but it’s still one where the kid doesn’t get the prom night she wanted.
Like, just a teen comedy without Prom as the focus? Bottoms came out last year and was pretty great. I don’t recall any movies that actually had a prom where they explicitly don’t care about dates, though I guess Finch made out alright by the end of American Pie despite not having a date.
There was an episode of Malcolm in the Middle with an anti-prom. I think movies probably are too concerned with “getting the girl/boy” to ignore such an easy third act. Though even something like Superbad, while ostensibly about having sex with Emma Stone, was still primarily a story of two friends reconciling.
Going with friends or as a group seems to be more common these days, thankfully. Going without a date really wasn’t an option when I was in high school.
It’s not a teen comedy, but in Lady Bird she and her best friend stay home together instead of going to prom. But…yeah, it’s kind of depressing how large the thing looms in American media. I went to mine both junior and senior year (dateless) and made zero precious memories, for what it’s worth.
Do you understand how storytelling works?
I didn’t go to prom. I also don’t have a hang up about it. It’s possible!
Just watch Carrie. You’ll be glad to avoid Prom.
Just watched this movie and spoiler alert……..but this movie would fit. The movie ends with the girls realizing they don’t need dates to the prom (they do go but the movie spends very little time there), they have romantic interests that they don’t end up with, and the movie closes with them having fun together as friends (the screenshot in this review is from the very end of the movie).
little too feel-goodI’m trying to see how this is a problem…?