Picture Day (2012)

A rebellious teenager forced to repeat her last year of high school is caught between adolescence and adulthood - and between two very different male admirers.

Director:

Kate Melville (as Kate Miles Melville)

Writer:

Kate Melville (as Kate Miles Melville)

Stars:

Tatiana Maslany, Spencer Van Wyck, Steven McCarthy

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tatiana Maslany	...	Claire
Spencer Van Wyck	...	Henry
Steven McCarthy	...	Jim
Susan Coyne	...	Ruth
Fiona Highet	...	Annie
Mark DeBonis	...	Lewis
Catherine Fitch	...	Vice-Principal
Monica Dottor	...	Paula
Joanne Boland	...	Margot
Melissa Jane Shaw	...	Lucy
Brandon McGibbon	...	Travis
Michael McAdam	...	Greg
Joshua Teixeira	...	Randy
Jamillah Ross	...	Gym Teacher
Troy Lebane	...	Young Henry

Storyline

Claire Paxton is a rebellious and independent late teen, her outlook on life which is driven largely by the fact that her single mother is a self absorbed alcoholic. Claire is repeating some of her senior year classes at Toronto's Arthur Meighen High School in order to graduate, which she decides to do during the school year rather than waste her precious summer doing it in summer school. She has little motivation to attend classes or graduate. Her school year is affected largely by her encounters with two males with who she ends up spending much of her time. The first is Jim, the thirty-something front man for the funk band, the ElastoCitizens, with who she embarks on a sexual relationship. The second is Henry, a ninth grade student who she used to babysit. Henry is an exceptional student, but is at a stage in his life where he too is starting quietly to rebel against his straight-laced upbringing. Claire acts as his mentor in his coming of age, which may change if she knew that ...

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Plot Keywords:

high school | student | slacker | underachiever | slut | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language - all involving teens

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 2014 (UK)

Also Known As:

Фотосессия

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Foundry Films,Snitch Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Claire Paxton: Attempted suicide gets you more ass than a toilet seat.

User Reviews

Stuck between adolescence, adolescence and stereotypical immaturity

"Picture Day" stars Tatiana Maslany as Claire, a girl who's described as being caught in between adolescence and adulthood. But that's only accurate if adulthood is actually an immature state of being where teenagers are snarky and rude because they think they're cool and smarter than everybody else. She's smack dab in the middle of adolescence no matter how mature she might think she is.

During Claire's last year of high school – again, she meets two guys. Jim is legally an adult, thereby making him older and wiser. He also represents the sex, drugs and rock & roll stage of "adulthood". Henry is younger than Claire, but also mature, studious and observant. He's also more sheltered and needs someone to show him the harsh realities of coming of age.

The coming of age parallels within in this film are apparent and abundant. Claire's stuck between adolescence and adulthood and is repeating her last year of high school – as if she's unable to know when she needs to grow up. She's also torn between two guys, representing the high school and adult worlds she's torn between. And then within the guys themselves, the older one is more immature and less adapted to the adult-world and has no need for Claire himself. While the younger one can provide Claire with the stability she needs and has the maturity to approach adolescence like an adult.

The problem is all those parallels are represented within the premise, once you actually start watching the movie, there's nothing left to discover. "Think these ideas are smart? Good, because that's all we've got."

Worse is that the characters themselves don't provide any reasons to keep watching. Claire is rude, insolent and immature, and doesn't deserve our sympathy or even our attention. Jim is a walking, talking stereotype that is even more annoying than that sounds. Henry is a decent character, and since that should solve her boy-related dilemma, the only dilemma that's left is why we're still watching.