#REALITYHIGH, while predictable in every single way, is a surprisingly quaint and endearing high school drama starring Nesta Cooper as Dani Barnes-a young black girl whose bullied in grade school, which results in her banishing herself from social media. Flashforward to high school and she is the awkward geek girl that exists in real life but surprisingly seems to annoy this generation of movie geeks who feel they are being represented unfairly. To that, I say, "Shut-up! Be a geek and be proud!"
Dani's character is not nuanced in any way-her role is a carbon copy of any number of pretty geek girls seen throughout film history who are just one make-over away from underappreciated darling to video vixen. Dani just happens to be caramel colored supposedly ugly-duckling who happens to be pretty. So black audiences are treated to a rare treat: a good, young black male with good intentions towards the protagonists. Netflix, what are you doing? How dare you do something positive in the name of diversity. Okay, I'm being facetious to make a point: it is nice to see black kids shown in a light that's not tragic, demeaning, or violent. So for that alone, I was willing to give it a try.
As the movie progresses, it hits all the right plot points, and the characters are relatively good-natured, except the antagonist-Alexa: the narcissistic social media star that ruined Dani's childhood. When Alexa's ex-boyfriend, Cameron (played by the charming Keith Powers) starts dating Dani, it sets Dani and Alexa on an inevitable collision course. Now, doesn't that play into the trope of girls fighting one another over a guy? Sure it does. Does that happen in real life? Hell yeah! So, what are crying about people? Lighten up. #REALITYHIGH delivers a wholesome love story about two decent kids trying to navigate a vicious, social media culture. The same culture that's trashing this movie on IMDB as if it were ever trying to be anything more than a fluffy high school film.
#REALITYHIGH suffers from some choppy transitions scenes, and a lack of onscreen time for her bratty sister Taylor, but it's not enough to hamper the movie in any kind of way. If anything, the on-screen chemistry of Nesta Cooper and Keith Powers make this movie a pleasure to watch and left me hoping to see more of these young actors in the future.
