Dramarama

I was pleasantly surprised to watch Dramarama. I wasn't sure what to expect but found the moving to be funny, sad, touching, and full of nostalgia for someone who graduated high school in the 90s. It's a coming of age story about a group of high school friends who just graduated and get together for a last party before starting their post high school lives. Sometimes these kind of movies can be formulaic, but this one is not.

I especially enjoyed the writing as it felt very real and genuine to me. And the actors did a great job of bringing the words to life.

I highly recommend this movie and can't wait to see other work by writer/director Jonathan Wysocki.

I love coming-of-age films so I've seen tons of them - good and bad. This one surprised me so much I actually watched it a second time! The writing and the actors are so good - you really want to see what happens to all the characters after the film is over. Some of the scenes definitely resonated with me and made me think of what I was like in high school (cringe warning!). It took me a minute to get into the film - it opens with all of them "in character" at a costume party - but it's like peeling the layers of an onion as the film goes on. I couldn't stop thinking about it after it was over. Recommended if you like nuanced coming-of-age films.

I was a theatre kid, so this was like looking in the mirror. Scary accurate. Also, the actors are all amazing.

This film took me right back into my (awkward) high school years in a way that was really sweet and unexpected. The actors are all so good - especially Danielle Kay and Nick Pugliese. I laughed out loud so many times and definitely got a lump in my throat in the last scene. It all just felt so genuine. Definitely not your typical coming-of-age film.

I loved this film! The writing and the acting are so pure and authentic, relating situations we've all been in with people we've all known before. Regardless of whether you grew up with or around theater nerds, Wysocki's given us characters that are familiar (we've all known a Claire, a Rose, a JD, all of them) and he's put them in one of the most familiar-to-all-of-us scenarios: graduating high school, what's coming next as we grow older, and what's going to happen to my band of best friends after all this change. Add to that the difficult circumstance of needing to share something with those best friends that you worry would not only change the dynamic irrevocably, but dissolve the group (or your welcome within it) forever.

The fear that friends (even close friends) can grow apart after big change but change is coming one way or another is what hit home for me. Wysocki handles all of this beautifully. The characters are so well-developed, I found myself connecting with each one as they navigate through what could be the beginning of the end of their close-knit group. Or not! The film is all about what happens during a last night together party (although, many emotions dealt with have clearly been brewing for months or years..."dealt with" being the kind that separates the "friends" from the "friends like family") and, thankfully, there's no "Where are they now?" epilogue over frozen screenshots, so it's left to the viewer to imagine the future. But there's something in how Wysocki tells the story that shows us that, whatever happens, they'll all, at the very least, be ok.

Highly recommend!