Movie Review: ‘The Honor List’

Review by James Lindorf

The summer before their first year of high school, friends Piper, Sophie, Isabella, and Honor are inseparable. By senior year, it takes a tragedy to pull them back together. The former best friends must put their differences aside if they want to complete the bucket list they wrote nearly four years ago before the graduation deadline. The film stars actress and social media influencer, Meghan Rienks (Freakish), as well as Karrueche Tran (Claws), Arden Cho (Teen Wolf) and Sasha Pieterse (Pretty Little Liars), as the popular one, the goody two shoes, the athlete and the rebel. The Honor List was directed by Elissa Down (The Black Balloon), with a screenplay by Marilyn Fu (The Sisterhood of Night), and based on a story by Fu and Rienks. The film will be released digitally on May 11th, by Lionsgate’s Studio L.

On top of staring, being written, and directed by women, Liz Destro, Cisely, Mariel, and Zoe Saldana’s Cinestar Pictures, along with PopSugar Films, produced the film. The influence doesn’t end there. Over 60% of the crew was women, making this a production created by women, for women, from top to bottom.

It has been 23 years since Clueless and 14 since Mean Girls. Could The Honor List be the next great coming of age story for girls? While it may lack some of the flash of those films, like a big budget or big name stars, it makes up for it with substance. Our main characters deal with death, divorce, body shaming, slut shaming, alcoholism and a host of other real-life experiences that today’s teens can go through.

I think casting director Amey René did a great job casting for the parts. The actresses range in age from 22 to 33, which is great when it comes to pulling off the emotional performances, but they are not the most believable as high school students. Every character has their own arc and multiple dramatic moments, but the focus is on Piper, the popular one who tries to drown her sorrows created by a turbulent home life. All of the girls are good people, just with one glaring flaw or quirk that is holding them back from being happy and living the lives that they dream of having.

I think this film will resonate with teens and women, especially those who had a tough time in school or had a falling out with their best friend(s) and regret not making amends. I don’t think this movie will reach the popularity of a Clueless or Mean Girls, but some moments will stick with me just like with those films. This movie, however, has a chance to affect the viewer in a more profound way than the others ever could because of its subject matter. I do think the film goes a little too far at times and borders on becoming overly cheesy before correcting at the last moment.

I know I’m not the target audience for this movie, as I am not a young woman, nor have I ever had a falling out with friends, but I still found a lot to enjoy here and think it could be a long time favorite for the right people. You can find out if you’re the right type of person on May 11th.