Set in small town America, The Graduates explores what happens after tragedy strikes close to home. Director Hannah Peterson tells the story of three people still coming to terms with losing someone incredibly important to them one year ago.
Genevieve was dating Tyler when he was killed in a school shooting. As her senior year draws to a close and graduation approaches, she finds herself unsure about the future. Where do you go from here after such a devastating loss? Meanwhile, Tyler’s father, John, is also struggling with grief as the basketball coach at the high school where it happened. He stays on to support the team, which was so important to his son, as they finish their final year.
Tyler’s best friend Ben transfers schools after it occurs but later returns. He developed a close bond with Genevieve as they helped each other cope in the aftermath. The two are willing to open up about their lingering pain, finding solace in one another. But confronting lingering feelings forces them to deal with complicated emotions they never expected.
While the characters each grieve differently, they all share a profound sadness that still lingers below the surface. Genevieve appears stoic on the outside yet remains deeply wounded within. John submerges himself in helping others as a way to honor his son’s memory. And Ben’s guilt over missing that fateful day wears heavily on him.
Peterson tells an intimate story of these real people learning to continue living despite immeasurable loss by relying on each other for support through the difficult process of healing. Though profoundly somber subject matter, hope emerges in human connection.
The aftermath of tragedy
The Graduates delves into the lives of three people forever altered one year after a school shooting rocked their community. Genevieve was nearing the end of her senior year and excited about what opportunities the future might bring, but all of that changed when her boyfriend Tyler was taken. As graduation approaches, Genevieve finds herself consumed with grief and unsure about moving forward without him.
Tyler’s best friend Ben was also deeply affected by the loss. He transferred schools as a way to cope, but eventually comes back to the town they all shared. Ben is riddled with guilt over missing school that day, wondering if he could’ve somehow changed the outcome. He and Genevieve bond over their shared pain, leaning on one another as they grapple with finding a new normal.
Meanwhile, Tyler’s father John dedicated his life as the high school basketball coach, determined to see Tyler’s teammates through to graduation in his memory. Under his caring facade, John carries an immense sorrow. Coaching serves as John’s way to pay tribute while also distracting from his anguish.
Stuck in different stages of mourning, the three main characters wrestle with towering grief and questions about what comes next. Genevieve appears strong yet remains fragile within; Ben hides vulnerability behind a stoic mask; and John submerges pain through helping others.
Peterson also highlights supporting characters who aid the protagonists’ healing. Genevieve grows closer to her empathetic mother as she allows comfort in. The school counselor lends counsel to each individual based on their unique struggles.
Through its complex characters, The Graduates deftly examine how trauma forever impacts lives and the coping methods people employ. Most of all, it portrays the perseverance of the human spirit even in our darkest hours and how community acts as the light guiding us onwards.
Honoring realism through restrained craft
Director Hannah Peterson understands that oftentimes less is more when it comes to heavy subject matter. In The Graduates, she chooses to focus solely on the aftermath rather than exploitatively dramatizing the trauma itself. Peterson honors those impacted with compassionate storytelling.
This philosophy is echoed in Carolina Costa’s understated yet resonant cinematography. Shadowy hallways and lingering close-ups imbue even routine scenes with an atmosphere of eerie surreality. A solitary shot of John eating shows a man enduring grief alone through subtle brokenness in his eyes.
Mentorship from visionaries like Sean Baker and Chloe Zhao is felt in the film’s verisimilitude. Unlike dramatic retellings, these are real people we’re witnessing, not sensationalized characters. Their anguish feels cruelly tangible rather than melodramatic.
At the heart of this realism are the towering performances, particularly from the leads. Shouldering such dense emotion would ruin lesser artists, but Sundwall, Hibbert, and Cho rise superbly to the profound challenge.
As Genevieve, Sundwall injects lived-in complexity into a girl wearing pain like second skin. Beneath surface strength lies vulnerability in every gesture. Hibbert matches her mastery, infusing Ben with a wounded soul’s fragility through pain etched onto quiet determination.
Cho meanwhile speaks volumes through sparseness. As John, a single emoting goes unsaid yet cultures an entire man’s world with subtle brushstrokes of body language.
Supporting them, Dizzia and O’Sullivan bring dignity to roles that could’ve felt trivial, instead resonating as mothers bearing burdens of loved ones through warmth.
This ensemble ensures, even as trauma’s reverberations power stories, human faces remain foremost in framing loss and hope in equal measure. Their gifts prevent sensationalism, honoring real resilience with hard-won beauty.
Finding solace in shared struggle
The Graduates delves into grief as a deeply personal experience with no single right way to cope. Genevieve appears strong yet remains broken inside, while Ben shows vulnerability through candid talks. John hides behind devotion to his son’s teammates, all processing pain differently.
The film understands that losing someone forever alters your world, but not in identical ways. Grief transforms daily, unpredictable as it settles into your soul. It lingers not as a brief disruption but as a permanent companion, an ongoing struggle with no clear end.
Yet in acknowledging the isolation trauma can bring, The Graduates highlights humanity’s capacity for compassion. Faced with indescribable darkness alone, connecting to others in similar pain provides fleeting moments of light.
Ben and Genevieve find solace sharing memories of Tyler, acknowledging the chasm in their lives no one else can cross. John anchors hope in supporting students carrying scars of their own.
Community arises from common wounds, each small act of empathy easing anguish. Genevieve leans on mother’s comfort; neighbors attend games as tribute.
School shootings destroy innocent lives but not spirit, where people rally for each other. In dramatizing tragedy’s enduring impacts with empathy rather than exploitation, The Graduates finds poetry in human perseverance through even our loneliest hours.
It reminds those dealing with unthinkable losses that wherever darkness descends, lights of solidarity will always emerge, as long as we remember we all grieve, fear, and seek mercy together.
Portraying youth with nuance amid darkness
The Graduates present high school with heartbreaking accuracy. We see familiar scenes—casual hangouts, lazy days by the lake—now carrying an undercurrent of unease. Metal detectors and security badges are as routine as morning bells; a jarring reminder of trauma never leaves campus grounds.
Yet this realistic outlook prevents the teens from seeming defined solely by their scars. Peterson sprinkles moments of brightness throughout—humor between friends studying for exams, liveliness at parties, albeit with stakes felt more starkly.
Genevieve and Ben’s witty banter feels genuine as they help each other prepare for what’s next after graduation. Their peers are fleshed out as multidimensional young people, not one-note cliches so often seen in media.
This nuanced approach honors the complexity of their generation. A darkness hangs over American classrooms, yet today’s students persevere in countless acts of bravery and hope every day.
The Graduates presents these young survivors as far more than just victims—celebring small joy, chasing dreams fiercely, defying those aiming to reduce their experiences to simplistic tropes. Their realness reminds us that even in society’s hardest hours, tomorrow’s leaders find light.
By declining to depict their pain as sole definers but never sugarcoating challenges, Peterson crafts characters as complex as their circumstances—poised youth overcoming society’s failure to protect childhood’s sanctity. Their spirits refuse to be crushed despite all the reasons they have to break.
Moments that linger long after
Film is a visual medium, and Peterson wields it expertly to further immerse us in her characters’ lived experiences. From the unsteady frames reflecting inner turmoil to delicate scenes merely glimpsing their humanity, some moments remain seared in memory.
Take the shot of John eating alone—simple in its execution yet saying so much about this man’s inability to fully withdraw into himself. Or Genevieve’s total breakdown on the curb, her cries speaking to cracks beneath a carefully composed surface.
Quiet aesthetic flourishes like the score enhance atmosphere without handing over emotion. Its subtly accented rhythms mirror fraying nerves, tenser at climaxes then receding like waves.
Peterson smartly avoids showing gratuitous violence, which risks exploitation. Rather, we understand Tyler through the lives of those left to continue surrounded by his memory. Shaky phone videos and anecdotes reveal a vibrant young man, leaving imprints on all he touched.
Even minor characters are granted humanity—a teacher’s soft encouragements; the counselor advising without preaching. Their roles feel authentic, lending further credence to this fictionalized depiction of the real struggles so many Americans now face.
Each thoughtfully crafted component builds an immersive whole, never manipulative yet stirring all the same. The Graduates lingers not through flashy tricks but authenticity of craft elevating material that, at the hands of a lesser director, may have lost nuance. Impact lingers through memory of characters whose resilience under pressure moves us all.
Facing forward through shared understanding
The Graduates presents an authentic portrait of moving past unimaginable loss. It stays profoundly with you—this glimpse into lives forever changed yet persevering through community.
Peterson gifts a story highlighting hope found between those linking arms against unyielding darkness. While grief persists, connection helps carry us forward—a lesson resonating deeper post-pandemic amid the isolation so many face.
Genevieve, Ben, John, and their small town reveal resilience’s powerful echoes, the manner in which small acts of care sustain wounded souls. Their struggles will remain with viewers long after as an illustration of trauma’s endurance alongside humanity’s capacity for compassion.
A few story beats could deliver extra clarity. But Sundwall, Hibbert, and Cho etch indelible characters, their delicate performances anchoring this thoughtful film. Audiences will also feel Peterson’s bright future, as her sensitive lens ensures dignified windows for discussing issues too many communities now know too well.
For showing resilience’s quiet victories even amid society’s failures, The Graduates deserves broad reach. It presents a poignant portrait of finding hope where it matters most—among those who understand our shared fragilities. Their journeys honor real strength: persevering day by day, together.
The Review
The Graduates
The Graduates offers a profound yet understated portrayal of lives forever changed by tragedy and the solace those impacted find in one another. Peterson's natural direction and assured performances from Sundwall, Hibbert, and Cho make for an impactful work that stays with the viewer long after. While not perfect, the compassion and thoughtful perspective this film brings to such a difficult subject matter make it well worth viewing.
PROS
- Sensitive and grounded depiction of trauma's enduring impacts
- Exceptional lead performances that feel deeply human
- Authentic and nuanced portrayals of high school experience
- Subtle direction and cinematography that enhance atmosphere
- Highlights themes of perseverance, resilience, and humanity's capacity for compassion
CONS
- Some character backstories could be fleshed out more.
- Occasional bursts of sentimentality
- Pacing drags slightly in parts
