HIGH SCHOOL HIGHS,
AND LOWS AND WOES

If you didn’t already learn or experience that the social elements of going to high school can be hell – with the insecurity of trying for maturity, the cliques of cool kids, the miseries of misfits, being bullied, and purposefully pursuing popularity –  the movies are here to remind us. In Almost Popular, a recent addition to the long list of such films, the roles of the two outcasts are the two outstanding cast members and the snobby, sneering mean girls are by no means a very different type than those in Mean Girls, although they don’t carry on as in Carrie, but the plot that culminates with the students attending the school’s Pink Prom may remind us at times of Pretty in Pink or the girls calling themselves the Pink Ladies in Grease and its sequels. There have been many more, so we can’t really blame or shame Almost Popular for populating its story with similar situations, sassy classmates, conniving, striving, and surviving.

The movie, like many teens, seems to have an identity crisis. Directed by Nayip Anthony Garcia, its tone keeps shifting. Almost Popular is most captivating in cute conversations between its popularity-seeking peppy protagonists, platonic pals since pre-school, Susie (Disney alumna Ruby Rose Turner) and Bobbie (Reid Miller). Their acting is the most naturalistic and they are quite endearing– the two best reasons to watch this. In scenes with many of the others, exaggerated characterizations, relationships, and Ava Rikki‘s camera work become cartoonishly over-the-top. In the final minutes, when confidence and confrontations reach their peaks, the tone becomes oh-so serious as the laudable “be your authentic self†message is delivered with a heavy hand. It becomes more difficult to sit through the campy and sit-com components when we might want to get back to caring about the more believable Susie and Bobbie bits. If we just give into the silliness and give up on feeling involved and invested? If so, the ending’s earnestness is even more unearned. This doesn’t mean there isn’t some fun and some laughs to be had along the way or some satirical moments that hit their targets.

Audiences in their young teens (and younger) would certainly benefit from absorbing the point that gaining the approval of others (especially shallow, nasty people) is not worth adopting a fake persona and abandoning your scruples, your friends, and your self-worth. If the cheekiness and chuckles, and identifying with kids who are obsessed with social media (a big part of the plot) to reel in that audience, it’s worth the effort to get the lesson delivered.

The self-satisfied, icky Vicki (Ellodee Carpenter), the smug teen queen of mean, snarls and intimidates. The plot thickens after a plot by outcasts Bobbie and Susie to gain cred crashes. (It’s revealed that they found a way to purchase fake online followers.) Coming to their rescue is Renee, a schoolmate aligned with Vicki and the bullying bitchy girls, who agrees to secretly coach them to act, speak, and dress “cool†to fit in. (Renee is played impressively by Isabella Ferreira, showing actual incremental character development — what a concept!)

Other actors involved playing students whose presence adds to the story’s development are Avi Angel, notable as Susie’s bespectacled crush and, as the school’s herald of juicy news, Sarah Dorothy Little. She happens to be the daughter of Pamela Duffy-Little, who is the executive producer, credited with writing the story and co-writing the screenplay with Eleni Rivera.

Sex and sexuality are treated oddly – or perhaps carefully, as some accusations are not stated in the most obvious ways and might be meant to play it safe so the wording might go over the heads of young audiences. An accusation about Vicki’s sexual experience is phrased thusly. Susie’s mom has a scene taunting Vicki’s mom about sexual doings and Vicki’s mom wakes up her daughter, bursting with the idea that her daughter should pursue a lesbian schoolmate considered to be very popular. (“But I’m not gay!†screams Vicki, twice, and her mother tells her, “Nobody cares about that anymore.â€)  Speaking of gay, the press notes describe Bobbie as being “a member of the LGBTQ community, but not out to anyone.†This element is hinted at, but only becomes a plot point near the end. It seems like a missed opportunity that it isn’t explored earlier in conversations with his super-close BFF and that ongoing assumptions about his sexuality aren’t one reason he’s a bullied outcast.

For older viewers ready for some undemanding diversion, this frothy film features some giggle-garnering “guilty pleasure†moments provided by the sneering retorts, clueless comments, and awkward encounters. There’s an innocence contrasting with the insolence of its bratty characters, and a sweetness in the series of escapist escapades with a couple of quirky, plucky kids worth rooting for. Hopefully, Almost Popular’s life lesson — that gaining surface “popularity†is not the be-all and end-all — has a chance of becoming an almost popular belief.

stills courtesy Patriot Pictures

Almost Popular
Patriot Pictures, Ethos Pictures
USA | 2025 | 95 minutes
available to stream and buy September 23, 2025