Film Review: THE GRADUATES: Hannah Peterson’s Dramatic Film is Truly Moving but Occasionally Lacks Focus [Tribeca 2023]

The Graduates Review

The Graduates (2023) Film Review from the 22nd Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie written and directed by Hannah Peterson and starring Mina Sundwall, John Cho, Alex R. Hibbert, Maria Dizzia, Kelly O’Sullivan, Daniel Kim, Stephen Fuller Austin, Yasmeen Fletcher, Anthony S. Goolsby, Bekah Jung, Musa Aden, John Forker, Ewan Manley, Adriane McLean, Oscar Rudecindo, Augustina Tang and Stockton Ross.

Hannah Peterson’s delicate and affecting drama, The Graduates, rests quite a bit on a strikingly fine performance by Mina Sundwall as Genevieve, a young girl who has lost her boyfriend, Tyler (Daniel Kim) in a school shooting. The Graduates makes the odd choice to not focus on that shooting but, rather, on the main characters of the film’s attempts to move on with life after this extremely heart-wrenching tragedy. Set in Utah, Peterson’s film is personal, gripping and unique as it reveals the many layers of its complex characters as they are confronted with choices that may have otherwise never been had tragedy never struck.

Genevieve is the focus of the picture. She compares her SAT scores to what the minimum score required to get into the university of her dreams is and sadly comes up short. She’s serious about her ambitions which are weighed down by difficult realities. She turns to her mother Maggie (the perfect Maria Dizzia) for consolation even though Genevieve fears that Maggie could be disappointed in her.

Juxtaposed to the other characters in the film is Ben (Alex R. Hibbert) who has recently disappeared from town and had almost showed up to school the day of the shooting. When Genevieve and Ben reunite, there’s genuine solace found in the connection between these two very fragile characters within the film. Another memorable character is that of Vicky (Kelly O’Sullivan), a counselor, who finds her own joy in helping other people as she decides that her calling may be staying where she is and developing her career working with students by the time the film is over.

John Cho, however, turns in the most deeply moving performance of the supporting cast as Tyler’s dad, John, a basketball coach who stays at the high school hoping to inspire his players to be the best they can under circumstances which aren’t always easy or simplistic. Cho’s acting stands out even in a film like this which is full of heartfelt performances.

Sundwall’s Genevieve can tear the audience’s hearts out as we feel all her pain and passion. Sundwall not only makes her character easy to sympathize with and relate to but also very realistic. Sundwall is playing a part that has so much substance that the subtext the actress provides can leap off the screen.

The minor problem with The Graduates may also be a strength in one way but, alas, in turn becomes a weakness because of the particular subject matter that the picture deals with. This film doesn’t focus on the shooting itself and in making that choice, the audience is left to try to get a sense of what, exactly, happened through the actions and reactions of the film’s characters. We see Tyler in flashbacks which helps develop the type of person that he was, but viewers will sense the dread that must have taken place in these characters’ lives at the time of the incident. As a result, maybe, it would have helped with more explanation of the events that happened which have led our characters down a solemn path where they are trying to rebuild hope.

That’s not to say that what the film does do, it doesn’t do well. It does what it sets out to do extremely well. John Cho’s father character makes an interesting case for peace and tranquility and integrated in scenes where he is featured, are moments of peaceful happenings and expressions of love by those around him. We see flowers and teddy bears and representations of hope that are heartbreaking in their excesses. Love and peace tries to defeat the evil that has transpired and Peterson certainly conveys this message and then some. Maria Dizzia is an added bonus and is complex in her caring turn as the mother whose love for her daughter prevails above all.

Sundwall’s character struggles a lot in the film to find a happy medium. At one point, she is about four assignments behind in a class. Genevieve is so memorable that Sundwall stands out as an actress who would seem to have a very bright future ahead. Let’s not forget Alex R. Hibbert who has a role that is very moving as well. Hibbert’s Ben is lost and adrift searching for some sort of path in his life. Peterson doesn’t always provide easy answers for this very interesting and compelling character. This film also brings in voicemails which were left on Tyler’s phone in very touching ways that help shed light on the past and help merge it into the present.

Many of the characters of The Graduates change significantly during the course of the picture. Sundwall expertly conveys her character’s transformation. The film ends with John making a major change in his life. This change could be seen as an important one but the audience will certainly wonder what would have happened under different circumstances. This film is deeply moving and the fact that you may want more at the end is, perhaps, a testament to the quality of the movie as a whole.

Rating: 7.5/10

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