Story: A group of teenagers wish to rebel against the administrators and teachers (the system) in their suburban Chicago high school called New Port South.
New Port South is not as terrible as one might think but feels like a Lifetime movie of the week. It is competently made, & has a hot cast featuring Melissa George (30 Days of Night), Will Estes (Terror Tract), Gabriel Mann (Cherry Falls) & Blake Shields (The Hollow) as the one who sets everything in motion. Even Michael Shannon (Bug) has a cameo & his talents are completely wasted. The writing is sometimes cringy and uninteresting (for the most part) although there are a couple of interesting bits (like when the students rebel agaisnt the administration).
New Port South has a strong message buried underneath about the broken school system, how students are meant to be submissive and not think, about how teachers get all the shit. But ultimately feels too preachy and in your face to leave a mark or has compelling enough characters for you to care or root for. They all do the best they can with this weak ass script that has a lot of potential.
The acting is fine even if most of the actors look way older. Will Estes is the only one who looks of age. New Port South feels force-fed like when you go to sunday church and they force their beliefs on you.
Honestly, I bought this a while ago because I had a huge crush on Will Estes. Revisiting now after so long makes me realize the kind of movie this is. You probably will forget all about it after the credits roll but you can do so much worse (like Thor 2: Dark World). Still, in the end New Port South manages to be fairly enjoyable. Like something you'd watch when there's nothing better on streaming services.
Here's the trailer:
Commentaires