''18 to Party'' is a 2019 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by Jeff Roda. The film premiered at the

Woodstock Film Festival The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was launched in 2000 by filmmakers Meira Blaustein and Laurent Rejto with the goal to bring high quality independent film to the Hudson Valley region. The festival takes place each fa ...

on October 4, 2019. Following its premiere, the film was also screened at the Big Apple Film Festival on November 21, 2019 and at the

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...

on August 11, 2020, where it won the Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast. The official trailer for the film was released on September 25, 2020, and featured Taylor Richardson and Sam McCarthy among others.

Plot

It is 1984. A group of teenagers spend the day waiting to get into a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. Meanwhile, school is approaching and a group of eight graders are forced to go back to their studies. The group includes nerdy Shel, his crush Amy, music fan Missy, bickering Peter and Dean, burly Brad, smart-ass Kira, and Lanky, who has been released from

youth detention center In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

and has been considering going back to school. While they wait outside for a nightclub to open, the teens raise hot topics that range from UFO sightings to music, and from Lanky's release to what's in store when school is back in session. While discussing those topics, they realize some crazy truths about each other.

Cast

*Kevin Daniel Carey as party goer *Enzo Cellucci as Rizzo *Alivia Clark as Amy *Ashling Doyle as Tonya *Tanner Flood as Shel *James Freedson-Jackson as Lanky *Oliver Gifford as Brad *Nolan Lyons as Dean *

Sam McCarthy Sam McCarthy is a New Zealand songwriter and pop vocalist. He is best known for his work in Kids of 88 and Goodnight Nurse. Early life McCarthy was brought up in Auckland in the suburb of Weymouth. He was educated at Weymouth Primary School ...

as Peter *Taylor Richardson as Missy *Erich Schuett as James *Ivy Miller as Kira

Reception

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website

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, the film has approval rating based on reviews, with an average ranking of . In August, 2021 critic WorldFilmGeek listed ''18 To Party'' in their Top Ten Teen Movies of all-time at #9. Nick Allen of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

'' wrote "''18 to Party'' nudges that there's got to be something more to a story concerning youth like this, that it can't feel so limited to what they see and chat about". ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

''s Chris Salce said "''18 to Party'' knows what it's going to be, and it does it well". According to Selome Hailu of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'', "

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

need more scrupulous eyes, but bears the palpable excitement of a new voice. It's worth the watch for indie lovers and coming-of-age aficionados, with just enough moments of true clarity to expect a more mature, balanced appeal in Roda's future".

References

External links

* *{{Official website, https://www.18topartymovie.com/ American comedy films Films set in 1984 2019 comedy films 2019 films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films