Illuminare Productions is proud to announce that DETENTION is part of the official selection of the Pasadena International Film Festival.
Date: April 12th, 8pm
Location: Laemmle 7, Noho
Red carpet at 7.15
For festival passes visit www.pasadenafilmfestival.org or you can purchase single tickets at https://tickets.laemmle.com/tickets/00001-00001-00005/139870/1961
(PIFF Block 20).
Be at theater at 7.30pm and no later than 7.45pm to get seats.
Pass holders get priority seating and happy hour prices.Title: DETENTIONFeature Film Runtime: 83 minutesGenre: Coming of Age, DramadySurviving high school, easy. Surviving group therapy? Good luck.When four high schoolers get “Saturday Detention”, they quickly realize things just got a whole lot worse when they discover what they thought was just a waste-of-time detention turns into a bit of a nightmare… Group Therapy!Directors: Mark Cameron and Emma CameronWriter: Emma CameronProducers: Holly Mavar, Emma Cameron and Mark CameronConsulting Producer: Kelly Van HornStarring: Anna Mulia, Ian S. Peterson, Ricky Spaulding, Bianca Mariani, Emma Cameron and Elizabeth MitchellFOLLOW US ON:Instagram: @detentionthemovieTiktok: @illuminare_productionsYoutube: @illuminareprodsFacebook: linkDetention Film Review
By Laurie B. Arnold
Author
Detention is a gem of a movie that opens with stunning shots ofbeautiful Bainbridge Island, Washington, the birthplace of Pickleball and home to a population of residents with seemingly idyllic lives. But the illusion is quickly shattered when four high student “delinquents” are assigned to serve Saturday detention for various transgressions, mostly misunderstood and ultimately, as we come t0 discover, largely heartbreaking. But comedy reigns when the kids discover that to pay their penance, they’re not attending typical detention. Instead, they are condemned to spend their entire Saturday in the school library with the district’s distracted psychologist, Dr. Messerschmitt, (a laugh-out-loud performance by screenwriter Emma Cameron) who is a sleep-deprived nursing mother doing her best to balance deep exhaustion, a deeper need to pump, and her task of leading these four teenagers through a day of therapy bootcamp designed to get them to truly listen to each other and ultimately shed their preconceived perceptions. Hilariously, her lack of sleep and the distractions of new motherhood win out and the kids realize that if they don’t finish Messerschmitt’s list of touchy-feely exercises by the end of the day, they’ll be forced to return the following Saturday. And so they take matters into their own hands, highjack the list, get to work, and prove that they ultimately have more than aptitude for the job than the weary Dr. Messerschmitt. If this story has echoes of the popular John Hughes 1985 movie, The Breakfast Club, it is because Cameron felt it was time to update that story with a more modern twist. And she more than accomplished that with her cast of teenagers who are far less stereotypical than their predecessors in Hughes’s movie. Not only is the film hilariously funny, it also provides a thoughtful balance, depicting these kids’ challenging home lives, which helps to create empathy, mutual understanding, and real connection amongst them. The young actors who play the misunderstood quartet – the illusive but strong-willed Eden (Bianca Mariani), selectively mute Mary Beth (Anna Mulia), and overly competitive buddies, Corey (Ricky Spaulding), and Nash (Ian Peterson) all turn in excellent performances and unlike some teen movies, sound and act like teenagers. But Detention is not only a movie for a teenage audience. During the screening I attended, I spoke with a mother and her teenage son. The movie received high praise from both. The mother reflected that it took her back to the feelings she first had when watching The Breakfast Club forty years ago and it helped her to better understand the culture of her own son’s high school. And her son was astounded that the film captured his high school culture and its students exactly right. While it’s been a long time since I was in high school, the story moved me as much as it did that mother and son. Detention reminds us all that the struggles, bonds, and small triumphs of the teenage years are as timeless – and revealing – as ever.