In Hannah Peterson’s “The Graduates,” Genevie (Mina Sundwall) is unsure about her future. One year after her boyfriend Tyler was killed by gun violence, everything seems uncertain. College. Life. What do you do next after an earth-shattering loss? But as her high school graduation nears, so does the reality that she must make those decisions. She grows closer to Tyler’s best friend, Ben (Alex Hibbert, “Moonlight“), who similarly struggles with the tragedy. In the year since, he transferred schools, dropped out, and is looking to get his GED. Finding another kindred spirit to mourn Tyler also means reopening the pent-up grief Genevieve buried away from her mother, Maggie (Maria Dizzia), friends, and teachers. Meanwhile, Tyler’s dad John (John Cho) stays on as the school’s basketball coach to support his son’s teammates and see them prepare for college and the future in ways Tyler never will. In their own way, they must define what the future will mean for them.
Written and directed by Hannah Peterson, “The Graduates” is a tender coming-of-age drama, the kind of movie that’s heavy on emotions but quietly so. These are not teens getting into trouble or becoming superheroes, they’re just trying to figure out college applications and SATs as well as cope with the aftermath of the sudden loss of their classmates. Sadly, students like Genevie and Ben and parents like John are growing each year as more and more classes deal with senseless violence. While timely, “The Graduates” is something of a period piece, set in the school year before the pandemic, so the focus of the story is just the characters grappling with the intrusion of gun violence into their lives. It also is a time capsule for the generation of students who consider metal detectors, shooter drills, and security guards at school a part of their daily academic experience.
Peterson carefully chooses not to dwell on the details of the massacre, further enhancing the feeling of isolation around Genevieve, Ben, and John and making it seem that the shooting has become “an event that shall not be named.” Even Genevieve’s mom struggles to talk with her about it, and Genevieve scoffs at her friends, claiming they understand her. Her proximity to loss has made her defensive. For the story’s three main characters, random moments could lead the emotional dam to burst at any moment, revealing the raw grief below the cool veneer. Despite its somber premise, the movie is not without its moments of joy, like watching Genevieve and Ben get closer, reconnect with their friends, or watch John play with his niece. Plenty of teen milestones to celebrate, even as despair may be waiting in the wings.
As Genevieve, Sundwall comes across like many other teens her age. She’s unsure about getting into her dream school, and maybe after the death of her boyfriend, school won’t be the focus of her attention. She’s defensive with her mom and friends yet gets angry at Ben for leaving when she needs him. Ben is much more the stoic mourner, preferring to deal with his emotions alone and in private. He and Genevieve leave messages on their dearly departed friend’s cell phone voicemail out of habit but also because they miss talking to him. Although an adult, John is no less unmoored by the loss of his son, and he clings to his faith and sense of duty to the boys’ team as a kind of service-in-tribute. His sister begs him to move to Texas with her and her daughter, but he’s not ready to leave the last place his son was alive.
“The Graduates” may indulge in the occasional cheesy bit of classroom dialogue, but the flaws are brief compared to the movie’s ambitions. The story at the center is about what happens after the headlines and cameras leave, and students are left to figure out their way through grief. It’s about the isolation the follows tragedy and how few people seem to quite understand what they’re going through. It’s the part of the story that doesn’t make the news, the day-to-day struggles of the surviving families and friends left behind. The movie shows only a portion of that process – what grief looks like a year after the shock of the event has worn off – and the reality that Tyler’s loved ones will never have the chance to hear his voice again beyond his cheeky voicemail. “The Graduates” is a reflective movie, an emotional story without telling you how to feel, only that for many people across the country, learning to live with grief can be just as important as planning for the future.
